The Holly and the Ivy
by Catchathief
Summary: After Voldemort rises again, the Guardians decide to send Jack and two legendary sisters to Hogwarts. To reduce any damage that might happen, you know. Someone didn't think that through all the way. Rated T because if the heroes are going to help Harry in the end, they're going to have to be a bit violent.
1. Chapter 1--I

Chapter One

"North, what is it now?" Bunny asked impatiently, reaching for one of the carrots on a platter one of the elves was carrying. "We know Pitch hasn't come out of his hidey-hole in the woods near Burgess. There isn't a villain in the universe that could harm the little ankle-biters now."

Sandy nodded in agreement and a golden question mark appeared over his head, then a moon, then an image of the Guardian Stone. He then realized an elf was trying to drink his eggnog and retreated to the other side of the room and floated next to Tooth.

"It is not a new villain, but a threat all the same." North stated ominously. "We do not want Pitch to return, no?"

"Right…" Jack agreed slowly, the wheels of his mind spinning rapidly as he tried to figure out where North was going with his question.

"I have been informed by one of my sources that at any moment a very evil person will be in position to create enough fear that Pitch will return."

"Evil person? Who?" a girl with long dark hair and a scar running down the right side of her face questioned through the only open window.

Everyone was instantly on guard, seemingly grabbing weapons out of thin air. Then they realized who it was and lowered them slightly.

"Ivy! I told you to knock first!" another voice floated through the window. "Now will you see if they'll let us in? You weigh a ton!"

"Awww, Holly! You're no fun!" Ivy giggled.

"Just do it!" Holly grunted.

Jack smirked and sauntered over to the window. He grabbed Ivy's hood and yanked the two girls into the Globe Room.

"Jackie Boy!" Ivy grinned sheepishly, "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Well, I am a Guardian now…and _I_ was invited." Jack's smirk grew, and then he frowned. "And how many times have I told you not to call me 'Jackie Boy'?"

Bunny snorted as Ivy started counting on her fingers and the other girl sat up and muttered, "At least one million, fifty-three times."

Ivy looked up, "_Exactly_ one million fifty-three times! Thanks Holly!"

North face-palmed, "Can we continue?"

Holly nodded, smacking Ivy to get her to stop grinning at Jack.

"As I was saying, a threat has returned that will create so much fear in the world, Pitch will become more powerful than ever."

Ivy raised her hand and waved it in the air. "Can we _please_ know who it is now? And can I help this time? PLEASE!? I haven't been in an interesting fight in such a long time!"

Bunny and Tooth, who were both standing near her, edged away warily.

"It's Voldemort, isn't it," Holly stated. "Voldemort is back from wherever he was."

North's jaw dropped and Ivy grinned. "She's the resident know-it-all."

"It was quite simple. If you read all the papers, you'd know that that rag, the Daily Prophet, has been publishing stories about how Dumbledore and that one kid have lost it. Then, if you ask around, you learn that that one kid was saying that Voldemort has returned. Of course, the scorch marks on North's desk show that a phoenix was recently there. And since only one phoenix can live at a time, and that phoenix is Dumbledore's familiar, North has obviously been in correspondence with Dumbledore. Then, North said that this threat 'has returned', so this threat has to have been around before. That narrowed it down to three people: Hitler, Attila the Hun, and Voldemort. For reasons I am not allowed to disclose—"

"The first two are quite impossible," Ivy interrupted.

"Right," Holly glared at her sister as everyone started snickering and then muttered, "And then, if you look through North's garbage and read his mail, everything is quite clear."

Ivy burst out laughing, "You would!"

North cleared his throat, "Da, it is this Voldemort fellow. He is back and Dumbledore was kind enough to send me warning."

"So what'd'ya want us to do, mate?" Bunny asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Can we help?" Ivy pleaded.

"Dumbledore wants North to send some Guardians to Hogwarts to watch the children," Holly stated. "Just so you know, Ivy and I have magic – wizard magic - and would fit right in with the people there."

"Fine! Ivy and Holly will go to Hogwarts," North sighed as Ivy cheered.

"Is Jackie Boy coming, too?" Ivy inquired, using her magnificent puppy dog eyes on the giant Russian.

North turned away quickly, "Da. Go get ready."

"Yayz!" Ivy grabbed Jack and rushed him out of the room, jabbering about…stuff. (No one knows exactly what, but since Jack was catatonic for an hour afterwards, no one wanted to really think about it, either.)

Holly walked up to Bunny and studied him. "You know, you'd be a pretty hot human." Then she walked off to save the winter spirit from her sister, leaving the Pooka standing there (and probably blushing under that fur).

* * *

Three teens, an overgrown rabbit, and a giant stood in front of the old man's desk. Well, Jack was crouched on top of his staff and Ivy had claimed the only chair and was draped across it, fingers laced behind her head. So "stood" really only referred to Holly, North and Bunny.

"So, these potions will make us visible to everyone? Even unbelievers?" Ivy queried, eyeing the flasks in the desk with suspicion.

"In theory, yes," the old man said wearily. He had argued with the three immortal teens for the past three hours about everything from wands to the Sorting.

"Well, till you're one hundred percent certain, I'll just stay invisible to your school," Holly stated decisively.

"Holly," North warned. "Professor Dumbledore is just trying to help. There is no reason to not drink the potion."

"Then you drink it!" The girl threw her hands into the air. "I'm pretty sure I've been told before that drinking unknown substances-especially from a wizard-is bad for your health."

Ivy snorted. "Naw, you figured that out after that Merlin fellow gave you a potion that should've made you taller and instead turned you blue."

"Still!" Holly argued, "I refuse to drink some experimental potion! If someone wants to see, they'll have to believe!"

Ivy sighed and turned to look over at the old man on the opposite side of the desk, "You're gonna havta go with it. Unless you can test it and show her long term results within the school year, she won't drink it."

"I think she likes being invisible," Jack noted offhandedly.

Bunny rolled his eyes, "If it works on Ivy and Jack, will you try it?"

Holly shrugged, "I would need long term results, remember? So maybe in January. And what if the potion never wears off? I can't see how that would be a good thing."

Dumbledore sighed. If he had known these teens would be so obstinate, he would've just asked one of the older guardians to be the DADA teacher for a while.

There was a knock at the door that interrupted both his mental moaning and everyone else's argument.

"Come in," Dumbledore called as he motioned for his visitors to quiet down.

A tall, greasy haired man stepped into the room and walked across the room to stand in front of the desk.

"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" The man asked confusedly.

"Severus, you invented this potion, correct?" The other man nodded and Dumbledore continued, "Would you mind explaining it in detail to me?"

"Of course, sir. Since invisibility is just not being visible, and many beings are cursed with being invisible, or invisibility is so ingrained in their natures that they'd die if they weren't invisible, this potion simple changes the viewers' eyes so they can see whatever it is that drinks this potion or has it sprayed on them."

"And does it wear off?"

"I've tested it on The Invisible Book of Invisibility and a few Thestrals, and sometimes it wears off in a week, sometimes it lasts longer. But it shouldn't last longer than a month."

Dumbledore nodded and looked over the man's shoulder at Holly, his eyes asking if that was good enough. Holly shrugged and asked another question.

"And have you tested it on more humanoid beings?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, Headmaster. I was not aware that there were any invisible ones anymore." Severus droned, clearly bored.

"That is all, Severus, you may leave," Dumbledore said and with a flourish, opened the door magically.

After the sullen man had left, the headmaster turned to face his other guests. "Does that allay your fears, Miss...?"

"I don't know," Holly said dubiously, totally oblivious to the fact that he was probing for a last name. "I guess that'll have to do, but I'm not promising I'll use it all the time. At least it wears off rather quickly."

* * *

"So, what should we get first?" Holly asked the other two as they entered Diagon Alley, strange wizard money clinking in their pockets.

Jack looked down at the long list the old man had given them before North and Bunny had dragged them back to the Pole. "Um...getting a pet sounds like the least boring."

Ivy grabbed the list and scrutinized it carefully, "No, no, no! We've got to get our wands first, Jackie Boy! Everything else comes second to that!" And with that statement, she marched off to find the wand shop, leaving the others to shrug helplessly at each other and follow.

They found her staring up at an ancient sign proclaiming "Olivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.

"Holly," Ivy said in a tight voice, "didn't you say that there was a wizard by the name of Ollivander with our enemies? D'you think this Ollivander is the same one?"

Holly shrugged, her eyes hardening as she remembered her past. "The best way to find out might just be to enter the snake's lair." She then grasped her sister's arm and pulled her into the small shop.

There was already a girl trying out wands with her father standing close by, as if he was there only to keep her safe. Or so it seemed to Holly as she looked for escape routes and as she tried to gently pull Jack and her sister back onto the street outside. But the man behind the counter had noticed them when the bell above the door had jingled to announce the arrival of new customers. He waved them forward and Jack and Ivy cautiously stepped toward the counter, pulling Holly with them.

"I'll be right with you," he said in an airy voice. Then he turned and handed the young girl another wand. "Try this one."

While the trio waited, they discussed what to do with Jack's staff. Jack was convinced that some powerful wizard could cast an illusion to make his staff look like a wand, but then Holly pointed out that, as far as they knew, the staff only channeled ice magic. It would be useless with other magics. She admitted that staffs were much more powerful than those sticks wizards now used, but Dumbledore had insisted that they get wands.

While they were discussing what to do about the staff, Ivy came up with an idea.

"What if you just took both your wand and your staff?" She said in a 'this is a totally obvious solution, why haven't you guys thought of it yet?' voice.

Jack and Holly sheepishly looked at each other. "That might work," Holly stated slowly. Jack nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah."

By this time the girl had gotten a wand and her dad was giving the old man money for it. The three teens stopped talking and waited for him to finish. Strangely, no one else entered the shop.

Finally, the shop owner turned to them.

"Now, how can I help you three? I don't usually see many young people your age come in here."

"If you only knew," Jack muttered under his breath. Holly jabbed him in the ribs and said, in a much stiffer and more formal voice than she usually used, "You are Mr. Ollivander, I presume? We are here for wands."

"You presume correctly," the wizened man said with a bow, "Now, which of you would like to go first?"

"MEEEEE!" Ivy squealed, waving her hands excitedly in the air. Her two companions face palmed – something they were doing a lot of lately.

"Well I guess that answered his question," Jack whispered to Holly.

"Could you hold out your wand arm, miss?" Ollivander asked Ivy. Ivy held out her right hand stiffly while Ollivander flicked his wand and a tape measure flew towards her and started measuring her arm, in between her eyes, and a whole bunch of other places. Then it returned to its master's pocket.

Ollivander hmmed and hawed as he searched through the wand cases behind him. "Try this one. Willow and unicorn hair, fourteen and a half inches."

Ivy excitedly took the wand and flicked it upward. Water squirted out of the tip, arched over Ivy, and drenched Holly – much to Jack's amusement.

"I don't think so," Holly growled, steam rising off her shoulders in clouds.

"I don't know," Jack teased, "You look good wet."

"Yeah, Holly, this is much better than the time you fell into that troll's nest –" Ivy started.

"IVY!"

"How about this one? Ebony and phoenix feather, seven and three quarters of an inch." Ollivander snatched the willow wand away and pushed the new one into the girl's hands.

"Hey, Holly, this one's short like you!" Ivy grinned, spinning around to show her sister. As she did, all the windows on the street shattered.

"Ivy, you KNOW I'm half an inch taller than you!" Holly fumed.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Hurry up, will ya, Ivy? I'm getting bored."

" How do you get bored looking at this sexy scar?" Ivy teased, pointing to her lovely scar.

Jack was going to reply, but the old man interrupted. "Perhaps this one? Hazel and dragon heartstring, seventeen inches."

Ivy grasped the wand tightly. It burst into flames and she screamed.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Ivy exclaimed, throwing the wand toward Jack. Jack caught it and extinguished it as fast as he could, and then set it gingerly on the counter.

"Perhaps the next one, then." Ollivander said hoarsely.

_For all you lovely readers out there, this is a one hour time skip. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, the authors._

Ivy put her hands on her hips. "Can't you just give me a fun one?" she whined.

The old wand maker perked up at that. "I think I have just the wand!" he exclaimed as he hurried to the back room.

"Didn't he say that forty wands ago?" Jack whispered to Holly.

Holly nodded as Ollivander walked back into the shop. "This wand is sycamore and dragon heart string, thirteen inches. Give it a go."

Ivy grabbed the wand and spun and pointed it a Holly. Holly leapt to her feet, prepared for the worst. But, instead of fire or water or anything like that, a bouquet of blue flowers popped out of the tip.

"Hey, Jackie Boy! These are for you!" Ivy grinned and shoved them at the boy.

Ollivander sighed in relief, "That's the one. Who's next?"

Jack handed the flowers to Holly and stepped forward. At the wand maker's prodding, he held out his right hand.

Out came the magic tape measure. It flitted around Jack; making measurements of his arms, the circumference of his head, and his feet. Then, it retreated to Ollivander once more.

"Most unusual measurements," the old wand maker murmured. "It's almost as if you aren't really alive."

Jack shifted from side to side nervously and waited for him to continue.

"Anyway, I think I have just the wand. Cedar and Unicorn hair, twelve and a half inches," he said as he pulled out the box from the shelf behind him. "And this unicorn just happened to like living in the arctic. He was the last one I searched out myself, you know."

Jack nodded and reached for the wand.

"Not yet! Not yet!" Ollivander scolded, slapping Jack's hand. "Patience would be a very good thing for you to learn, young man! Now, as I was saying, this particular unicorn was a peculiar blue color, not the usual white you'd expect. So, as any wizard or witch knowledgeable in wand lore would know, this wand has an affinity to ice magic."

And with that, he pushed the wand into the stunned winter spirit's hand.

Instantly the temperature dropped and ice started to form on the counter and window frame. A cold wind blew through where the window glass should have been and swirls of snow followed. Jack grinned while Ollivander and the girls shivered.

"I think not!" Ollivander said as Holly and Ivy exclaimed, "That's the one!"

Ollivander stuttered and gestured to the ice and snow around him, "B-b-b-but – this isn't good!"

Jack patted the old wand maker's shoulder. "Actually, it is. You said it has an affinity to ice magic, right? Well, this is perfect!"

Ollivander frowned and shook his head. "This isn't right! It can't be!"

Holly sighed and moved closer to the counter, "Well, then give him another wand to try. I'll wager the price of our wands that this wand is the wand that works best for him."

"Deal," he said and brought out another wand for Jack to try. "This one is alder and phoenix tail feather, fourteen inches."

Immediately after Jack took the wand, black pepper shot through the window and hit Ivy right in the nose. She suddenly began to sneeze big, loud sneezes.*

"That…ACHOOOOO! …can't...ACHOOOOO! ...be the…ACHOOOO! ...right one! …ACHOOOO!" Ivy said after a while. Then she broke into a second sneezing fit.

Ollivander slowly nodded his head and took out another wand. "One more. This is redwood and dragon heartstring, eleven inches long. Very rare."

Jack exchanged wands and waved the wand around his head. Nothing. He looked over to Holly, who shrugged.

"Maybe you should try again?" she suggested.

He nodded and flicked the wand again. Again, nothing happened.

"I don't think this is the one, either," Jack said with a small smirk.

"Fine, take the first one," Ollivander said ruefully. "I just don't see how that reaction can be a good thing!"

Ivy laughed, "You don't know Jack!"

The old man shook his head and motioned for Holly to come forward. She held out her left hand and the enchanted tape measure flew out into the open and measured the span of her arms, the distance between her left ring finger and her wrist, the size of her ears, and her height. Then it flew back to the old wizard and hid behind his back once more.

"Try this one," he said, handing Holly a regal looking wand. "Cherry and Phoenix feather, thirteen inches."

Holly gingerly took the wand. A couple of doors down, there was a scream and a 'BOOM'. She quickly set the wand down and shook her head.

Ollivander nodded in agreement. "Definitely not. How about this wand?" He handed her one that seemed to be carved into a spiral. "Black Walnut and dragon heartstring, sixteen inches."

This time, a blast of heat burst from the tip of the wand and hit Ivy square in the face.

"Try again," Ivy said, carefully feeling to see if her eyebrows were still there.

Ollivander frowned, "I might have a wand in the back that will work. Please excuse me."

After he left, Jack challenged Ivy to a duel. She accepted, of course, and soon they were dancing around the room, parrying and thrusting with their wands like they were swords.

"Take that! And that!" Ivy yelled as she chased Jack around the counter.

Jack concentrated and a thin sheet of ice formed under her feet.

"No fair!" She cried as she promptly fell to the floor. Jack laughed and jumped over the counter.

Ivy grabbed a wand box that was on the floor near her and chucked it at Jack. It hit him right in the forehead and he sat down on the floor rather abruptly, looking a bit dazed.

"Gotcha!" Ivy crowed, using the counter as a support as she stood up. Then her feet slipped out from under her and she fell against the counter.

"Looks like you've been caught, too!" Holly laughed. Ivy struggled to get up again, then started laughing with her.

"Help me up!" She pleaded, stretching her arm toward her sister.

Holly reached over and tried to pull her sister up, but ended up on the floor next to her, instead.

"You know what?" Holly said after a minute.

"What?" Jack responded.

"We should get North a cat," she said as Ivy pushed on her head and on the counter and finally stood up.

"A cat?" Ivy laughed and boosted herself onto the countertop, "What gave you that idea?"

"I just think it would be funny to see him trying to take care of a little kitten. That's all," Holly shrugged, then grabbed Ivy's leg and pulled herself up to where she could boost herself up onto the counter next to Ivy.

"We should name it Al!" Ivy stared imperiously.

"What kind of a name is Al?" Jack asked incredulously.

"What kind of a name is Jack?" Ivy retorted.

Just then, the wand maker finally decided to return.

"Here we go!" he said slowly. "Fourteen inches with a phoenix feather core and wood from the nearest true lover's tree: oak and holly. The two woods can't be separated, trust me, I'd have done it if I could've. But I want you to try it. If not, I have an oak and phoenix feather wand and a holly and phoenix feather wand for you to try." Then he handed her the dual-wooded wand. Power rushed through Holly and into the wand, which gave off a shower of deep red sparks.

"Great!" the old wizard smiled tightly. "Now, I believe-"

"Don't forget our bet," Holly warned.

"As I was saying," he said with a glare at the girl, "I believe that's all you three need from here. Have a nice day."

"Thanks a bunch," Jack said to Mr. Ollivander as he steered the two girls out of the shop.

"I think that wand maker was just getting worried that it was going take me an hour as well. He didn't seem too enthused about giving this one up." Holly said, fingering the stick of wood.

"Especially for free!" Ivy laughed, "That was brilliant!"

"Anyway," Jack interjected. "Where should we go next?"

Holly looked down at the list. "Maybe robes, then books, quills and parchment after that, then potions stuff, and finally the pet shop?" she suggested.

Ivy and Jack groaned. "Why clothes first?!" Ivy asked, "Robes are hideous!"

"Yeah, why not get pets first?" Jack suggested hopefully.

"Because then you guys would become totally unmanageable," Holly explained. "So now it'll be a reward."

Ivy nodded. "Hey, Holly, you didn't drink the potion, did you?" When her sister shook her head, she continued, "So then how was Ollivander able to see you?"

"He must just believe in old legends." Holly shrugged. "So can we finish shopping now?"

* * *

***To get the best idea of what Ivy's sneezing fit was like, please refer to ****_The Scarlet Pimpernel_****, by Baroness Orczy, the last few pages of chapter twenty-five. Or, you know, violently sniff pepper up your nose. Either works.**


	2. Chapter 2--need

Chapter Two

"So, how are we going to get your robes?" Ivy whispered to Holly out of the corner of her mouth.

Holly shrugged and looked around the small shop. "Madam Malkin can't see me...we could see if any of her assistants can...or I'll just figure something out."

They both turned to watch as Jack was measured and one of the shop girls brought out robes to fit to him. She laughed at something he said and he flashed a huge grin.

"So, what house do you think you'll be in?" Ivy asked, suddenly interested in the mannequin beside her.

Holly shrugged, "I don't even know that much about Hogwarts. What about you?"

Ivy smiled and struck a 'brave' pose, "I think with my history, I'll be in Gryffindor…they're the brave ones."

Holly nodded, "What are the other houses?"

Ivy rolled her eyes and flopped out of the pose. "Really, Holly? Usually you always know everything!" She sighed, "Gryffindors are known for being brave. Ravenclaws are brilliant. Hufflepuffs are…loyal…and good diggers…and Slytherins are ambitious, cunning and usually bad apples. I think that's just because they let their ambitions get to their heads." Ivy was now staring thoughtfully at her sister. "I think you'd be-"

"What about Jack?" Holly interrupted, pointing to the boy who was now hopping off the stand and taking the robes from the girl.

Ivy frowned, "That's a hard one! Let me think…"

"Better think while your robes are being fitted. Madam Malkin is waving you over," Holly nudged her forward. "See if you can get robes like yours, just half an inch longer, alright? Tell them they're for your sister who's sick."

Ivy nodded and walked off, still thinking.

Holly stuck her hands in her pockets and watched as Ivy was led past the spot where Jack was paying for his robes to a stool near the back of the room. As Jack was walking toward her, she realized that she had a piece of paper in her pocket among the sickles, knuts, and galleons. She pulled it out and looked at it. Grinning, she made her way over to her sister, not even bothering to move out of the way as people walked through her.

"Hey, remember that one time we decided to make dresses?" She whispered to Ivy, "I've got my measurements right here and I'm putting them in your pocket. Just give them to the lady and have her make me six sets of robes."

Ivy breathed an almost imperceptible "Kay" and stuffed her hand in her pocket and grabbed the slip of paper that was in there.

Holly made her way back to the front of the shop, where Jack was waiting.

"So?" He asked, raising his right eyebrow slightly.

Holly shrugged, "Oh, I just found something that'll be useful in my pocket and put it in Ivy's pocket."

"Did you tell her?"

She rolled her eyes, "No, when I was talking to her I was talking about boys and pets. Of course I did! There's not much use in giving someone something useful if you don't tell them about it!"

"Alright!" Jack held up his hands in a peacemaking, almost surrendering, gesture. "Just wanted to make sure! You never know with you two."

"It's fine," Holly smiled reassuringly. Then her smile turned mischievous, "So was the girl helping you nice?"

Jack looked confused. "What girl?"

Holly snickered. "The one who was flirting with you as she was fitting you robes."

His mouth formed a silent "o" as he realized who she was talking about. "She was just a really nice person who was explaining the wizarding world to me." Then he matter-of-factly added, "and I wasn't flirting."

"Sure," Holly said, drawing the word out so it seemed like she didn't believe him.

"Jealous, Holly?" Jack smirked. "Well,don't be envious of her, you should be worried about-"

Just then Ivy came back and proclaimed loudly, "Alright! We can move on now! I've got my robes and Holly's right here." Then she grabbed the other two's arms and pulled them out of the shop. "On to the bookstore!"

* * *

Even though Holly would've liked to stay longer in both the Diagon Dispensary and Flourish and Blotts, they stayed only long enough to grab the books and potions supplies they needed, plus a few extra herbs that Holly thought would come in handy. They finished the rest of their shopping and came to Magical Menagerie.

"Alright guys, what do you want?" Holly asked, looking at the kittens.

"A mini giraffe!"Ivy exclaimed, rushing to the enclosure where the diminutive ungulates milled about, eating leaves from tiny trees.

"Ivy…" Holly warned, "I'm not exactly sure you can have one…"

"Sure I can!" Ivy said, laughing as one of the giraffes licked her with its purple tongue, "Dumbledore has that phoenix of his; I'm sure he'll understand! Besides, it's not like I'll be taking Elyana to class with me! She'll stay in my dorm or the common room."

Holly smiled, imagining the old man trying to say no to her sister's puppy eyes. "Fine," she laughed, "but I want to be there when he tries to tell you no!"

Ivy fist pumped and kissed the giraffe that licked her right on the snout. "Sweet!"

Jack and Holly laughed as she led the miniature African giant to the counter.

"Hmmm…" Holly murmured, "Do you think North would like the orange kitten better or the tabby over there?"

"You were serious?" Jack smirked.

"Holly's always serious, Jackie Boy," Ivy stated as she returned, a ribbon around Elyana's neck. She studied the kittens, "I think the gray one is the best for our dear old Cossak."

"I was thinking of getting him the orange one," Holly said. "That way if it gets stuck outside, he'll be able to find it more easily. What do you think, Jack?"

He shrugged, "They're both cute, but I think the gray one would fit in with the yetis better. Besides, I don't think North will let this kitten even think about going outside."

Holly smiled ruefully. "You're right. Gray one it is." She picked up the tiny tabby kitten and held it close.

"Jack, have you picked out an animal yet?" Ivy asked after a minute.

The winter spirit shook his head, "I was thinking of getting an owl, though."

Holly shrugged, "Sounds good to me. I think you've got to go to that Owl Emporium place down the street, though. I don't see any owls in here."

"Alright, well, I'll head over there then," Jack said. "Want me to pay for the kitten before I leave?"

Holly nodded, blushing. "The cashier probably can't see me."

"Yeah, probably should've thought of that, right?" Jack smirked.

Holly rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna look for a cat for myself. Should we all meet at that ice cream place when we're done?"

"Sure!" Ivy and Jack said at the same time.

"I'm gonna go with Jack, 'kay, Holly?" Ivy declared.

Holly nodded, already distracted by the different cats around the shop.

After Ivy and Jack left, she wandered around the shop, looking into all the cages and touching the jewels on the back of the tortoise.

"Look, Tavish, doesn't that cat look like McGonagall in her cat form?" A boy near her pointed at one of the cages she was standing in front of.

"You're right, Tomas! It does!" Another boy ran past her and crouched down to look into the cage.

'Tomas…Tavish…those both mean twin in Gaelic, if I'm not mistaken,' Holly thought. The two boys did look a lot alike.

"Come on, Tav," the first boy sighed. "Cormac is probably almost done looking at the new Quidditch stuff that came in. We should get back before he realizes we left."

After the two boys left, Holly crouched down and looked into the cage herself.

"McGonagall," she mused, "that rings a bell…hmm. Something in conjunction with Hogwarts, I think…"She sat for a while while she thought. "Got it!" She cried when she remembered. Then she rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Oh, cat, you and I are going to have so much fun!"

* * *

"So, what are you naming your cat?" Ivy asked after a bite of her maroon, brown, and green ice cream.

"Caoimhe," Holly said, sipping on her malt.

Ivy nodded, "That's a good name."

"Does it mean anything?" Jack asked, stroking the feathers of a snowy owl through the bars of its cage.

Ivy looked at Holly and Holly cleared her throat, "It means 'beautiful, gentle, or kind'."

When she didn't continue, Ivy added, "It was our mother's name."

Jack nodded, sobered a bit, knowing how hard it was for them to speak of their past. Then he perked up. "Hey, what should I name my owl? Any ideas?"

Holly looked up from her malt and stared at the bird in question. "Well, you could name him Finn."

Ivy snorted into her ice cream, "Or Gwen. They mean the same thing."

"Harald might work. And it would be a play on words."

"You and your intelligence! He should name it Kevin!"

"How about Herbert?"

"Mozart!"

"Snowflake?"

"ELSA!"

"Guys!" Jack interrupted them. "I'll figure it out on my own, I guess."

Holly and Ivy nodded.

Holly looked over at her sister's bowl of ice cream with mild curiosity. "Hey, Ivy, what are you eating?"

Ivy looked down at her bowl and pointed at the different colors of ice cream as she gave their flavors. "Pomegranate, Rocky Road, and Pistachio ice cream. There should be a banana in there, too." She pushed her ice cream around looking for the fruit. "What about you?"

"The specialty malt…I think it was White Chocolate Elderberry Toffee…"

Jack snorted. "Was?"

Holly nodded, "Yeah, I finished while we were picking out names for your owl, Ice Boy."

Jack frowned, "I think I like that less than Jackie Boy."

Ivy grinned, "Don't worry, Jackie Boy. I'll still call you that!"

The winter spirit groaned as Holly and Ivy laughed.

"Should we head back to the Pole now?" Holly asked, wipin tears from her eyes. "We've finished here."

Ivy nodded. "I can't wait to see North's face when you give him his present!"

Jack pulled a glass orb from his hoodie pocket. "We should find somewhere out of the way to use this. So people don't ask questions."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Jack, we're in the middle of wizarding England. I think as long as we do it near a fireplace, they'll think we're using the Floo Powder stuff."

Ivy shot a glance at her sister, "You know about Floo Powder but not Hogwarts?"

"I know about Hogwarts," Holly defended. "Anyway, we should go find a fireplace. I think there's a public use one over at the Leaky Cauldron."

They left the table and hurried down the street toward the pub.

* * *

**Alright, so, today, July 31, is Harry Potter's thirty-fourth birthday, and so I had to put this up today! No disclaimers because this is a fanfiction site…yep! Thanks all! :)**


	3. Chapter 3--to

Chapter Three

"You ready yet?" Ivy pounded on her sister's door.

"No!" a muffled shout came through the thick oak wood. "I can't fit my mirror into my trunk!"

"Holly," Ivy groaned. "I'm pretty sure there are mirrors in the dorms at Hogwarts."

Holly threw open her door. "This is a magic mirror, though!"

Ivy face palmed. "Holly, why do you need a magic mirror? Isn't a normal one good enough?"

Holly folded her arms across her chest. "This one lets me keep in direct contact with any of the Guardians or immortals."

Ivy inspected the mirror carefully. "You sure you aren't just bringing it so you can stalk anyone who grabs your fancy?"

Holly turned as red as the berries of her namesake, "No!"

Ivy shrugged, "Okaaay. If you're sure." Then she looked around the room. "Have you seen a slim black notebook laying around? I was hoping to take it to school with me. Just in case."

Holly stared at Ivy for a full minute, dumbfounded. "The real one?" She finally got out.

Ivy grinned, "Maybe."

Holly shook her head. "Fine. Just remember that we've got to be at the train station in a few hours." She went back to stuffing the mirror into her large trunk. "I think I saw the notebook in question on the kitchen table."

"How about the giraffe treats I made for Elyana?"

"Where you usually put the notebook," Holly grunted.

Ivy tilted her head and watched her for a minute. "Do you want help?" she finally asked.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Ivy walked over and stared at the trunk and the mirror. Then she dumped everything out of the trunk, dropped the mirror in, and smiled.

"There you go!" she said. "You should get everything back in there fast."

"Thanks, Ivy," Holly groaned sarcastically. "You're a real pal."

"You're welcome!" Ivy said perkily. "Did you get breakfast yet?"

Holly sighed, "No, I'm pretty sure I've been trying to get that mirror in the trunk all morning."

"Well, I made some toast and bacon and orange juice if you want some," Ivy grinned slyly.

Holly had her back toward her and didn't see the grin. "Sure! That sounds great!"

* * *

"Ivy, isn't orange juice supposed to be a yellowish orangish color?" Holly asked, eyeing the bright blue juice.

"This is special orange juice," Ivy said. "Bunny sent it."

"That explains it," Holly sighed, taking a sip. Then she made a face. "Ach! This stuff is horrible! Don't we have any normal juice?"

Ivy shook her head. "Nope. Better just drink it up. Who knows what there will be to drink on the train."

Holly took another sip and shuddered. "It's worse than the stuff Mom used to make us drink!"

Ivy snickered. "Why don't you just gulp it down?"

Holly stuck out her tongue and gulped down the rest of the juice. Then she wolfed down the toast and bacon and grinned.

"I'm thinking we're gonna want to head up to the station or we'll be missing Jackie Boy and North. Hakin is pretty far from King's Cross." She stood up and walked toward the stairs.

Ivy watched her go and when she was out of sight, she pulled the empty flask out of her pocket, tossed it in the air a few times, and grinned.

"Ivy, come on, or we'll be late," Holly called to her sister. Ivy hurriedly stuck the flask back into her pocket and rushed after her sister.

* * *

Jack, Holly, and Ivy gathered around a huge mirror with their luggage. Ivy and Holly touched the mirror at the same time muttering some kind of spell. Then, Ivy grabbed Jack's hand and dragged him through the portal with them.

Silvery light swirled around them as they walked along a dark hallway.

"The mirror we're looking for should be in an unused ladies room near the platform," Holly said, consulting a small piece of paper she was holding.

"If we're using mirrors, why don't we just go all the way to Hogwarts?" Jack asked. "Wouldn't it be faster?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "We're doing it this way for the experience, of course! Don't you want to be able to say that you've ridden the Hogwarts Express?"

"And we haven't exactly mapped out a safe way to get there, yet," Holly added, still looking over the slip of paper. "We need to go this way!" She pointed back the way they came and started walking.

"Didn't we just come from that way?" Jack whispered to Ivy.

"It doesn't matter," she snickered. "Once you're out of the real world, direction is meaningless. That's why Holly's looking at that slip of paper. We've been through before, and used a really powerful, really exhausting spell to get to King's Cross Station, and that piece of paper recorded where we went and is now directing us back."

Jack nodded, a little confused.

"Come on!" Holly tugged them forward. "We'll just make it on time as is! We can't spend any longer talking about how this all works!"

"What about our stuff?" Jack asked as they sped along.

"I'll go back for it in a little while," Holly said. "Once we're on the train and everything."

They walked on in silence for a few minutes, then Holly stopped suddenly.

"Alright, look for the mirror at about eye level," She stated, looking around. "It should look like a large gathering of silvery light."

"Like that?" Jack asked, pointing to a ball of silver light just in front of him.

"Exactly!" Holly exclaimed. "Now, we should probably check to make sure it's the right mirror."

Ivy stuck her hands in the ball if light and pulled it into a large silvery disk. Then she stuck her head through and pulled it back after a little while.

"We're good!" She exclaimed. "There isn't anyone in there."

"Okay," Holly nodded. "You want to first, to show Jack how to do it? I'll follow right behind. "

Ivy pulled the bottom of the disk down farther, then stepped through. Jack glanced back at Holly and then followed. Holly looked once more at her paper and then quickly joined the others on the other side of the mirror.

"So, where's Platform 9 3/4?" Jack asked after they left the bathroom.

"You're looking at it," Ivy snorted before leaning against a nearby pillar and disappearing. Holly rolled her eyes and followed her sister through the brick. Jack sighed and bravely followed them.

* * *

"Hey, Ivy," Holly whispered, looking into a compartment. "Where are we going to sit?"

Ivy shrugged and looked into a different compartment.

"Hey!" She nudged her sister excitedly. "This one has a matched set in it and it looked like there's room for us! Hey, can we sit here?" she asked the three boys and gave them her signature grin.

"Sure," they shrugged.

"I'm Ivy," she said as she sat down next to one of the red haired twins.

"Fred," the boy said, holding out his hand. "I'm the better looking twin."

"No, I'm the better looking one," the other twin said. "You're the one that girls run from when they see your face."

"George!" Fred cried, grasping his heart. "How could you?"

"I'm Lee," the other boy said, ignoring the twins.

Jack sat next to him and said, "My name's Jack."

Holly silently stood at the compartment door and watched.

"And what's your name?" One of the twins asked, looking right at her.

Holly started. They saw her? But they hadn't ever seen her before. They must have started believing in the past week, unless…

"Ivy," she growled, looking murderously at her twin.

Ivy just grinned, "Oh, this is Holly. She's my twin. And, as you can see, Fred, I'm the better looking twin as well."

George rolled his eyes and winked at Holly. "They always say that, don't they? They just can't accept that we're more superior than them in looks and everything else."

Holly pushed past her anger and smiled. "Definitely. It's sad, isn't it?"

"So, Ivy, how did you get that wicked scar?" Lee asked, partly out of curiosity, partly to divert any fight that might be coming. Ivy, however, simply smirked at the question.

* * *

_Holly and Ivy watched the invaders from the battlements. Holly had shot her last arrow at one of the commanders of the vast horde and was now devising a scheme to get to the armory and the special arrows inside. Ivy was running her thumb along the edge of her katana (a gift from a visiting prince), glancing up every once in a while to gauge how long it would take the enemy to break in._

_"We've got two choices, Holly," she finally said, locking her emerald eyes on her twin's. "We can either can either stay in the castle and definitely die - and it will be a massacre," she added when she saw the look on her sister's face, "or we can take our people and escape to somewhere safe."_

_Holly nodded._

_"What do you want to do?"_

_"Let's swallow our pride," Holly sighed. "and let our people live a little longer." She gazed down at the enemy, "Should we use the tunnel? Or the stones?"_

_"Both," Ivy stated cooly. When her twin nodded in understanding, she continued, "We'll need to bring the relics." Holly nodded again, tears filling her eyes. They wouldn't be coming back._

_"What do you want me to do first? Gather the weapons and relics or tell our people?" she asked, staring at the army surrounding their home._

_Ivy motioned to a nearby page. "Tell everyone to gather anything important to them and gather outside the kitchens." When the boy had left, she turned back to Holly, "Let's do this together, alright?"_

_After they had gathered the most important relics and hidden the rest, the twins made their way to the kitchens._

_"Holly, you should speak to them," Ivy urged._

_Holly scoffed, "Sure, I'll do that and then you'll have to spend the next few hours trying to get them to escape with us."_

_Ivy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You'll do fine. Besides, you'll say it succinctly enough that we'll be on our way in at least ten minutes."_

_Holly stared at the crowd they had reached. Ivy nudged her. "I'll even let you outline our plan to our captains."_

_Holly stared at her twin suspiciously. "And let me use the knives for a month?"_

_"Fine," Ivy mumbled. "I'll let you use the knives for a month."_

_Holly nodded, "Alright. I'll do it."_

_Ivy grinned, her typical good humor showing through her grim facade. "You'd better get up there. Everyone's getting restless."_

_Holly set her jaw and walked through the crowd to a group of crates someone had stacked to make a makeshift stage. She climbed up and raised her arms. The crowd quieted and watched her expectantly._

_"My people!" she cried. "Tonight we have a choice. We can stay and fight," a cheer came at this, "or we can escape. If we fight, we might kill a few of these interlopers, but in the end, we will be killed and our children made slaves. If we escape, we will live and perhaps take them when they aren't prepared. Ivy and I have decided to escape to the rocks of our ancestors. All who would like to come, may. Please, discuss this with your families. Each captain will meet with his men and decide what they will do and then come see me. Women and children who are going will prepare food and other necessaries to bring with us. That is all."_

_"My decision has been made!" A voice shouted from the middle of the crowd. "I shall stay with my rulers and protect them till I die!"_

_"As shall I!" another voice cried._

_"And I!" a man near the front joined in, then kneeled down on one knee._

_Soon all the men were shouting that they, too, would stay with Holly and Ivy and keep them safe._

_Ivy grinned broadly and Holly blushed._

_"Captains, please join me in the Great Hall!" she shouted above the noise. "Ivy, please help with the preparations."_

_Once Ivy nodded, Holly turned and made her way through the kitchens to the Great Hall._

* * *

"Earth to Ivy," Jack said waving his hand in front of Ivy's face.

"Hi Jackie boy!" Ivy grinned snapping out of her thoughts.

"Don't call me that," Jack groaned. Ivy rolled her eyes at him and turned to Holly.

"Were you going to go get our stuff?"

Holly nodded and quickly left the compartment.

"So…" Lee said tentatively. "Holly said you got in a fight with a bear?"

Ivy laughed. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" Fred asked after a brief awkward silence.

"What's that?" Jack said curiously.

"Only the best game ever!" George exclaimed. "Come on, we'll show you how to play!"

Once Jack learned how to play, the five of them played till the train reached the station.


	4. Chapter 4--come up

Chapter Four

"Where's Holly?" Jack whispered to Ivy as they followed Fred, George, and Lee off the train.

Ivy shrugged. "She should be back by now. I don't know where she is."

Jack nodded and got into a carriage. "You guys sure have weird looking horses." He commented after looking long and hard at the skeletal horses pulling the carriage.

Fred laughed, "What horses?"

Jack was about to point to the horses, but Ivy nudged him hard.

"Those are Thestrals," she whispered harshly. "You can only see them if you've seen death and accepted it."

"So who've you seen die?" Jack asked.

Ivy glared at him. "Does it matter right now? I could ask you the same thing."

Jack thought about it. He didn't even know who he saw die. Did Sandy count? He shook his head.

Ivy nodded and climbed into the carriage. She was glad he didn't want to talk about it. Before she stepped in, she looked around again for Holly, worried that her twin was late. If the train left before she got back…Ivy shuddered. Holly would have to traverse the paths to Hogwarts by herself.

Inside the carriage, Fred, George, and Lee were explaining the House system to Jack.

"-So whichever House you get put into," Fred was saying. "is like your family for the next year."

"And if you mess up and get caught doing something wrong, or get on Snape's bad side, you get points deducted from your House," George added.

"But if you get an answer right, or do something amazing, your House gains points," Lee pointed out.

Jack nodded slowly. "Alright. So far, I understand. Just two questions: What are the four Houses? And who's Snape?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Snape's the Potions teacher here. We saw him when we were in Dumbledore's office over the summer. He's known for his extremely bad temper and morbidly greasy hair."

"Sounds about right," George chuckled. "Now, the four Houses are: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."

"Slytherins are sneaky devils," Fred said seriously. "They're backstabbing, arrogant, selfish, rich, pureblooded gits. Don't befriend one if you value your values."

Lee laughed, "Ravenclaws are known for their brains. They used to be the smartest kids in the school before Hermione Granger showed up. They're alright if you can understand what they're saying."

"Hufflepuffs," Fred started, then paused. "Um…Hufflepuffs are loyal…and Cedric Diggory was a Puff…I guess they're nice…they're extremely easy to prank…but not as fun as the Slytherins…"

"And Gryffindors," Lee started. "Are noble, brave, great people to be around-"

"Humble," Ivy snickered.

"Extremely so," George agreed. "Very good looking, and fun."

"We're the best," Fred shrugged, almost looking apologetic. "Nothing more to it."

Jack laughed. "Okay, guys, I think I got it."

"Good," Ivy said, looking out the window. "We've just arrived."

* * *

As they walked through the doors, they were met by a tall, older looking lady.

"That's McGonagall," George whispered to Ivy and Jack. "She can be pretty strict, but I think she loves us all the same."

"Hello, Professor!" Lee called cheerfully. "We were just going in to the feast. Care to join us?"

"Go and join your classmates, you three," she replied tartly. "I need to speak to Ivy and Mister Frost."

George, Fred, and Lee shrugged apologetically and left Jack and Ivy standing with the deputy headmistress.

"Are we in trouble already?" Jack inquired, grinning at the older lady.

"Where is your sister?" McGonagall asked Ivy, ignoring Jack for the moment.

Ivy shrugged. "She said she had to grab some stuff from our house and that she'd be here soon. If she's not here, I don't know where she is."

McGonagall sighed. "I have to direct the first-year students into the Great Hall shortly. I need to know if you want to be Sorted after they've all been Sorted or if you'd like to be Sorted in the Headmaster's office after the feast."

Jack grinned, "Well, I think I already know which House I'm going to be in, so I don't mind being Sorted in front of everyone."

Ivy nodded, "Let's just get it over with."

"Follow me, then," McGonagall beckoned. "You'll come in with the first-years."

Ivy and Jack followed her to the doors of the Great Hall, where a mob of kids were waiting anxiously. They joined the shifting crowd and waited for something to happen.

"Are you sure that will work?" a boy in front of them whispered to the person next to him.

"Positive," a familiar voice affirmed. "After the Headmaster is done talking just raise your hand and ask. He'll give you the password."

"Holly?" Ivy asked incredulously.

"Oh," Holly straightened up, "hey Ivy, Jack. How's it going?"

"Where have you been?" Ivy exclaimed. "I was so worried! I thought you missed the train and were going to have to take a path here!"

Holly grinned. "I'll tell you later."

Ivy was about to protest, but just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened and the horde of eleven-year-olds surged forward.

Jack caught his breath as he looked up at the ceiling. He could see the Moon watching from behind a cloud and stars winking at him from the night sky.

"Home, sweet home," Ivy sighed.

"That was always my favorite relic," Holly smiled, nodding to the ceiling that Jack was still staring at. "I almost took on a whole legion of Roman soldiers to get this back."

"You guys lived here?" Jack asked in amazement.

"Yep!" Ivy nodded. "This used to be our home. That dais over there was where our family used to eat on feast days and other special occasions."

Holly giggled. "Remember that one time Aidan got everyone to try and hit the shield over the dais from the other side of the room? And one of the men's spears hit Dad's goblet and spilled cider all over his best tunic?"

"That wasn't just anyone's spear," Ivy protested. "That was mine!"

Holly guffawed, earning her looks from everyone in the room.

"Sorry!" she said, holding back a laugh. "Please, continue."

Once everyone had gone back to watching the sorting, she turned to Ivy.

"That couldn't have been you!" she whispered. "You were standing right next to me and that spear was from the other side of the room!"

Ivy wiggled her eyebrows. "What else is magic for?"

"Jack Frost," McGonagall's voice sliced through their conversation.

Jack walked slowly up to where the deputy headmistress was standing and sat on the stool beside her. Ivy and Holly watched silently as the hat was placed on his head and as it decided on the House to place him in. After a few minutes, the hat finally yelled out its choice.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Amid the applause, Jack looked to the girls, his chagrin clear on his pale face. Ivy shrugged, silently giggling. Holly gave him a thumbs up and pointed him toward the Hufflepuff table. He hurried to the table and quickly sat down at the end nearest the dais.

Ivy, not waiting for her name to be called, walked briskly up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely touched her head when it shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ivy hopped off the stool and skipped to the Gryffindor table. Holly squared her shoulders and walked up to the stool and the hat. She sat down and closed her eyes.

_"__I thought Ivy was just a mistake"_ the unmistakable voice of the Sorting Hat growled. _"Now you're here too. I thought you two had decided never to return."_

Holly shrugged. _"Stuff happened."_

_"__Mmmhmm," _the Sorting Hat agreed absentmindedly as he looked through her experiences. _"Well, Ivy might not have changed, but you definitely have. You two are working with the Guardians, now?" _ He sounded mildly surprised, _"I never thought you'd be willing to even see that Russian again…oooh, I see…"_

Holly opened one of her eyes and saw Ivy holding up her arm and tapping her wrist. _"I think you need to hurry. Ivy's tapping her wrist."_

The Sorting Hat huffed. _"Fine. I think you'd be best in…"_

"RAVENCLAW!"

Holly stood and walked toward the Ravenclaw table. A cough behind her and quiet laughter around her helped her realize that she still had the Sorting Hat on her head. She slipped it off her head and quickly placed it in the deputy headmistress's outstretched hand. Cheeks burning, she carefully made her way back to her new table.

As she sat down, Dumbledore stood up. "There is a time for speechmaking," he started, looking around at all the students with a twinkle in his eye. "but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Holly hardly registered that food was magically appearing on the platters at the middle of the table as she studied the teachers at the head table. There was the tall strict lady, McGonagall, picking at the fish in front of her. And next to her was that one greasy-haired potions master…Severus something. Holly figured she'd ask Ivy later. Then there was a midget and a giant sitting right next to each other. And there was a lady whose steel-gray hair stuck out everywhere. And then there was a short, toad like lady. Holly wrinkled her nose. She looked like bad news.

Holly grabbed a pea and threw it at her sister's head. Ivy turned and gave her a questioning look. Holly pointed to the toad lady and stuck her tongue out. Ivy glanced over at her and then shuddered and nodded her agreement.

Just then the food disappeared and Dumbledore stood up again. Holly turned around and started playing with her fork. She figured she wouldn't worry about the rules, especially since she knew she and Ivy were going to break most of them pretty quickly. Then, the toad lady stood up and interrupted the Headmaster. Holly looked around to gauge everyone's reactions. The greasy-haired potions master was watching the toad lady with pure hatred in his eyes. Most of the other teachers had varying looks of disgust on their faces, though Dumbledore just looked mildly amused. Of the students, one boy at the Gryffindor table was looking at her with as much malice as the potions master. On the other side of the hall, at the Slytherin table, most of the students watched with something akin to adoration in their eyes. Holly shook her head. This lady was really trouble.

Finally, the toad lady ended her speech and Dumbledore stepped forward and finished his. As he was about to dismiss everyone, a small boy sitting near Jack bashfully raised his hand.

"Excuse me," he said timidly, "but I was wondering what the wifi password was."

Holly grinned as Dumbledore kindly said, "Sherbet lemon with a capital S and no spaces."

The first-year nodded and the Headmaster finished dismissing them.

* * *

**This one's a bit shorter, I know. But I do need to end somewhere...and I do have school...and I may or may not have the books in an easily accessible place at the moment...**

**yep! That's about it!**


	5. Chapter 5--with

Chapter Five

The next morning, Holly sat down next to Ivy at the Gryffindor table for breakfast.

"Hey!" Ivy greeted her, as chipper as ever.

Holly grunted in reply, not totally awake yet. She searched through the pitchers of beverages on the table, then stood up in disgust.

"I'll be back," she muttered and stalked over to the Hufflepuff table, where she talked to Jack for a minute, searched his table, then left. Jack watched her for a minute, then made his way over to where Ivy was sitting.

"She really likes eggnog, doesn't she?" he whispered incredulously to Ivy.

Ivy laughed and nodded. "North got her hooked a few Christmases ago." They watched as Holly left the Ravenclaw table and walked over to the Slytherin table. She tapped a blonde kid on his shoulder and leaned over to talk to him. Ivy and Jack weren't close enough to hear what he said in reply, but they were able to see his smirk. Then Holly stepped back and set her hands on her hips. Immediately, Ivy stood and started walking over. Jack ran to catch up, slightly worried by the look on Ivy's face.

"What's wrong?"

Ivy gestured to where Holly and the blonde boy were standing. "Holly. She's a beast in the morning. I'm afraid if he doesn't let her at least look for a pitcher of eggnog, she'll seriously injure him. That would give her unwanted attention and make people suspicious."

"You've given it a lot of thought, haven't you?" Jack smiled. "I thought that was Holly's job."

Ivy shrugged. "It is. I just take over when she doesn't think rationally."

Just then, Holly punched the boy in the face, knocking him back into his Housemates. Then she grabbed a green pitcher and walked away, leaving the table to stare after her.

As she walked past her sister and Jack, she grinned. "Hey guys. I found some eggnog!"

Ivy sighed and followed her sister back to the Gryffindor table.

Once there, they found Fred and George talking with three other Gryffindor students.

"…find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires form his joke shop, carefully evaluate the results of our research, and then produce the products to fit the demand," Fred was saying cheerfully.

"Can I help?" Ivy asked, squeezing in to sit between the two brothers. "I'm pretty good with pranks and stuff."

George shrugged. "We'll have to see what you can do first. We want only the best."

Ivy nodded and turned to the girl he had been talking to. "I'm Ivy. What's your name?"

The girl, who had very bushy hair, stated, "I'm Hermione Granger," then turned to Fred and asked where he was going to get the money to start his joke shop.

Holly sat down and grabbed a goblet and poured herself some eggnog. Then, lifting the pitcher, she turned to the boy sitting beside her. "Would you like some eggnog?" The boy, whose hair was as red as Fred and George's, turned scarlet and shook his head. Holly shrugged and took a swig from her goblet.

"So, what're we doing today?" she asked Ivy, wiping the white liquid from her upper lip.

Ivy face palmed. "School, Holly. School. You should have gotten your schedule earlier at the Ravenclaw table."

Holly made a face. "Great. I guess that means I've got to go get that…" She trailed off as she stood and walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

Ivy snorted as her sister went up to a small, wizened wizard and asked for her schedule. He handed her a slip of parchment and she turned to rejoin them at the table. Ivy hurriedly poured all the salt from the nearest salt cellar into the pitcher of eggnog and Holly's goblet, then turned and started talking to Jack.

Holly sat down and looked over her classes.

"I've got History of Magic, then Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and double Defense Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy today. What about you guys?" Then she took a sip of her eggnog and made a face. "Oh, thanks a ton, Ivy!" She stuck her finger in the goblet and twirled it counterclockwise. "That's real funny."

Ivy snickered as Hermione, the red headed boy, and the boy who seemed to hate the toad lady from last night, watched in amazement.

"So?" Holly prompted. "What are your classes?"

"Um…"Jack studied his parchment. "Looks like I've got Care of Magical Creatures with you, but I have Transfiguration first. After Care of Magical Creatures, I have Charms and Divination."

Ivy sighed. "So you've only got a class with Holly today. I've got History of Magic, double Potions, Divination and double Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, no classes with you, Jackie Boy, but plenty with my dear, dear sister."

Hermione frowned. "Wait, Holly, why do you have History of Magic with us? Ravenclaws have that on Tuesdays."

The red head rolled his eyes. "Leave it to Hermione to know her schedule and another House's."

Hermione shot him a look. "I'm just wondering."

Holly shrugged. "I don't know. That's just what my schedule says."

Jack tapped his fingers against the table, leaving trails of ice crystals where they touched. "Well, I think I'm going to go Transfiguration." Then he picked up his staff and left.

"I'm going to go find the History of Magic classroom, then," Holly said, standing and grabbing the eggnog pitcher. Then she winked at Ivy. "I want to get a good seat."

Ivy grinned and stood as well. "Sounds like a good idea! I'll come too!"

The two sisters turned and walked away before Hermione could tell them that they all had History of Magic together and they could walk together.

* * *

"So, what do you think the History of Magic teacher will be like?" Ivy asked as she and Holly strapped fireworks to the backside of the blackboard.

"Don't know," Holly said through the firecrackers she had between her teeth. "But there's no chair or desk in the front of the room, so they must like to stand and walk around." She taped them to the border of the board and stepped back to look at them.

Ivy nodded and reached for a wire to hook to the rocket she was working on. "So, why are we doing this the Muggle way?"

Holly stepped up on a desk they had pulled over. "Because the administration here will focus on magic. So if we do it this way, they won't think of looking for normal human clues. We're wearing gloves just as a precaution." She taped some wires to the ceiling, hopped off the desk, moved it a few feet away, jumped back up, and taped the wires against the ceiling again.

"How are we going to get rid of the wires?" Ivy stood and stretched.

Holly grinned and tossed her more wire. "I had the yetis at the Pole make them so they'll decompose once we send a charge through them. Do you have that camouflage paper with you?"

Ivy looked through her bag and pulled out three silvery sheets of paper. "You're lucky Phil likes you. I can't get him to give me anything!"

Holly started cutting the paper into strips and taping the strips over the wire. "He doesn't give me anything. We have an agreement. Phil gives me whatever I need and I test their security and make cookies."

Ivy face palmed. "Alright. That's why Jack can't get in there. You're helping the enemy!"

Holly walked to the back of room and studied their work. "Looks good. We should get to class. You have the detonator?"

Ivy held up a little black box. "And I can hook it up later, when we want to set them off."

"Perfect!" Holly grinned and started cleaning up. "So, if we hurry, we should be able to make it to the History of Magic classroom with a minute to spare."

Ivy waited for Holly to finish, then opened the door.

They walked into the History of Magic classroom two minutes early and found seats by Hermione and those two boys.

"I thought you said you were going to get here early," she whispered to Ivy.

"We are early," Ivy whispered back. "A whopping two minutes early."

"But—" Hermione started, then the teacher floated in.

"The teacher's a ghost?" Holly whispered to the red headed boy incredulously.

"Yeah…"He said slowly. "But don't think that makes this class interesting. This is the most boring class ever."

Holly nodded and turned to watch the teacher. After a few minutes, she passed a note to Ivy. _This stuff was a lot more interesting the first time around._

Ivy read it and nodded, then wrote a bit and passed it back. _Who knew that the secession of the elves from the world could be so boring? I thought it was brilliant. Especially that spell we came up with to make a pocket universe._

Holly looked past Ivy to where Hermione was sitting, scribbling furiously to get everything down. _This is terrible._ She wrote. _Look at Hermione. I think she's the only one taking any notes._ Then she paused and listened to the lecture. _He just skipped the best part! And he didn't even mention that it was the two of us who made the spell!_

Ivy read the note and rolled her eyes. _You know, this is a waste of time. I'm leaving. Wanna go find the Peeves? See if he still remembers us?_ She passed the parchment to Holly, who read the last part and nodded.

"Hey, Holly and I are gonna go." Ivy whispered to Hermione. "The professor's skipping stuff, so we're just going to read the book."

Hermione started to protest, but Ivy and Holly just brushed past her.

"Those two are just as bad as your brothers, Ron!" she whispered furiously to the red head Holly had been sitting next to. "They said Professor Binns is skipping stuff so they were leaving."

Ron looked wistfully after the two twins, who were now walking out the door. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

* * *

**Alright, so I have an idea. If I start posting short stories of Holly and Ivy just goofing off...like them talking to Peeves...would anyone read those? And would it be better if I just put them in their own separate story or if I include them in this as bonus chapters or something? Anyway, comment/review with your thoughts, please.**


	6. Chapter 6--better

Chapter 6

"So, is Defense Against the Dark Arts usually interesting?" Holly whispered to Hermione as they walked in from Ancient Runes.

She shrugged. "We have a new teacher each year, so it depends. I wouldn't get my hopes up, though," she added conspiratorially, "this professor seems to be in the Ministry's pocket. I doubt any good will come of the class."

Holly nodded and took a seat near the far wall of the room. "Did you read the book?"

"Of course," Hermione stated. She was going to say more, but Ivy burst into the room.

"HOLLY! The Divination teacher! She's for real! She doesn't act like it most of the time, but that special aura's around her too! We found a Seer!"

Holly glanced over at the teacher, who was watching Ivy with a frown. "That's great, Ivy, but perhaps we can talk about this later? Like, when we're alone?"

Ivy took a breath and nodded. "I'm just so excited! Do you know how fortunate we are?"

Hermione huffed, "I don't think you can be talking about _our_ Divination teacher. She's a total fake, and so is the subject."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "That's what Harry and Ron said, and that it was just an easy O, but I know differently!"

"Who are Ron and Harry?" Holly queried.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Holly! You're in Ravenclaw, you're supposed to be smart! Harry and Ron are the two guys who sat with us at lunch, breakfast, and History of Magic."

As Holly nodded, Hermione broke in. "Where are they anyways?"

Ivy laughed. "I guess I lost them in my hurry to get over here. They should be coming in soon."

Just as she said that, Harry and Ron walked in and hurried over to where the girls were sitting. They sat down quickly and avoided looking at Ivy.

"I think they think I'm slightly bonkers," Ivy leaned over and whispered to her sister.

Holly arched an eyebrow. "Really? What gave them that idea?"

Ivy punched Holly in the arm and glared at her.

Before Holly could retaliate, the toad lady stood.

"Good afternoon, class!" she said in her high-pitched voice.

A few people gave a weak "Good afternoon" in reply and she frowned. "Tut, tut. _That_ won't do, now, will it? I should like you to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class."

This time, as the class chanted back "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," Holly leaned over to Ivy. "I thought she would croak. I honestly would've bet money on that." Ivy snickered and the toad lady, Professor Umbridge, frowned at them. "Would you like to share with the class what is so funny, Miss…?"

Ivy grinned evily, "Miss Caoilfhionn Faolán!"

Professor Umbridge blinked. Holly face palmed, but stayed quiet.

The toad lady gained her composure and turned away from Ivy, pretending nothing had happened.

"Wands away and quills out, please."

Holly rolled her eyes and grabbed a quill, some ink, and a bit of parchment from her bag. Once Umbridge's back was turned, she muttered, "This is going to be a _great_ class."

Ivy was quick to nod.

"…your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Umbridge was saying. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year."

Ivy snorted as Holly rolled her eyes again.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

"Oh joy," Ivy muttered. She looked over at Holly, who seemed to be studiously copying down whatever was on the blackboard. On closer inspection, however, Ivy saw that she was drawing a toad in a pink cardigan and with a black bow on its head. Ivy nudged Holly and nodded to the drawing. Holly smiled and mouthed "For North" before resuming her coloring.

After everyone was done copying down the stuff on the blackboard, Umbridge asked, "Has everybody got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?" When the muttering of "yes" had ended, Umbridge tutted.

"I think we'll try that again," she said. "Shen I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

This time, "Yes, Professor Umbridge," resounded – except for one "Nope!"

The toad lady's eyes hardened. "Who doesn't have a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

Ivy's hand shot up. "Me!"

Umbridge stalked forward, a small, hard, smile forming. "And why don't you have a copy, Miss Fallan?"

"FWAL-lawn," Ivy corrected. "I don't have a copy because my sister and I decided we were going to share textbooks for our required classes. She has it right now."

Holly held up their copy. "It's right here!" She smiled her most winning smile, "I'm okay if my sister reads it first. I read pretty fast, so I can catch up later."

Professor Umbridge's smile turned to a frown instantaneously. "That won't be necessary. I just happen to have a copy your sister can use till she gets her own. Detention, Miss Fallan, for not being prepared for class."

Ivy nodded and sighed. "Sure. I'll have to work it into my schedule, though."

Amid a burst of giggles and snorts from the class, Umbridge smiled. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Now, everyone please open your books to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.'" Then she slipped over to a shelf on the wall by the door, grabbed a book, and walked back to Ivy.

"Here," she said saccharinely, then walked back to her desk and sat down, watching them.

Holly opened her book and started reading, crossing things out as she went along and writing her own ideas in the margins. Ivy opened the book and started drawing symbols in the margins with her fingers. Once the symbols on one page started to glow, Ivy turned the page and started on the next page. She was a few chapters in when Professor Umbridge broke the silence.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione.

"Not about the chapter, no," Hermione said.

"Well, we're reading just now," Umbridge replied with a tight smile. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione. Holly shut her book and leaned forward, turning so she could see Hermione.

"And your name is – ?"

"Hermione Granger," stated Hermione.

"Well, Miss Granger," Umbridge said in a dangerously sweet voice. "I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully."

"Well, I don't," Hermione stated bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about _using_ defensive spells." Holly nodded.

"_Using_ defensive spells?" the toad lady repeated after a short silence. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to _use_ a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"I can think of a situation," Holly muttered to Ivy, who was still drawing symbols in her book. "I can think of at least twenty."

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron inquired loudly.

Professor Umbridge turned and looked at him. "Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. – ?"

"Weasley," Ron provided, throwing his hand into the air.

Umbridge turned away from him and smiled. Harry and Hermione raised their hands too and, after a moment, the toad lady addressed Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" Umbridge asked in an overly sweet voice.

Hermione shook her head. "No, but –"

"Well then," the toad lady interrupted. "I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way –"

Holly couldn't take it any longer. "Actually, the whole point of this class _is_ to practice defensive spells. It says so in the charter that the Founders came up with when they founded the school. Section 12, paragraph 7, line 14. The library has a copy you can look it up in."

Umbridge spun to look at Holly. "That's wonderful, Miss Fallan, but that was ages ago. There is no reason now for us to take chances with your safety. As I was saying, you will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way –"

"What use is that?" Harry interrupted loudly. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a –"

"_Hand_, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge sang out.

Harry thrust his hand into the air, but Umbridge turned away, only to see more hands waving in the air.

"And your name is?" she pointed to one of the boys.

"Dean Thomas." He stated proudly.

"Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free –"

Umbridge interrupted him. "I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but –"

"Yeah!" Holly shouted, waving her hand in the air, "I expect to!"

Umbridge smiled. "By whom do you expect to be attacked, Miss Fallan?"

"First, Faolán isn't my last name. It's Neacht. Second, I expect to be attacked by her." Holly pointed at Ivy. "She can be quite fierce."

Ivy growled and bared her teeth helpfully, then said, "It's not Neacht, it's Sláine, silly."

Umbridge smiled and went on as if nothing had happened. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention," she laughed nastily, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."

Dean Thomas piped up angrily, "If you mean Professor Lupin, he was the best we ever –"

"_Hand_, Mr. Thomas!" Professor Umbridge said gleefully. "As I was saying – you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially leathal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day –"

"No we haven't, "Hermione started, "we just –"

"_Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!_"

Hermione's hand shot up and Umbridge turned away.

"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them _on_ you –"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he? Mind you, we still learned loads –" Dean Thomas said.

"_Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!_ Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at one of the girls.

Holly stood up. "I'm going," she whispered to Ivy. "I've heard enough. But you stay," she added as Ivy started to get up, too. "Finish whatever you're doing with that book." Holly started walking to the door.

Umbridge spun around. "And where do you think you're going?"

Holly smiled back. "To my dorm. I figured that there's no point in being here if all we're going to be doing is looking at the theories behind the spells. Most of it should be natural instinct, anyway."

Umbridge frowned for the first time. "Sit down. You will stay until class is ended."

Holly raised her eyebrows. "Really? Well, we'll see about that!" Then, she vanished.

Ivy snorted. "Show off," she muttered. Then she went back to drawing symbols in the book.

* * *

**Alright, so since it's been a looong time, you, my dear readers, get a looong chapter. Alright, it's mainly because I put in some of the book material. BY THE WAY, I don't own any of that, and I just thought I'd make that doubly clear now...**

**Now, I'm going to go back to watching Hogan's Heroes.**


	7. Chapter 7--chapter

Chapter 7

Holly stared out the window. "So, what should we do for the rest of the day, guys?"

"Don't you have Astronomy, or something?" Ivy asked, looking up from where she was lying on the library floor.

"Not till it gets dark," Holly rolled her eyes.

Jack looked up from his homework. "Maybe we could go outside and have some fun. Maybe make a snowman."

Ivy sat up and crumpled the coloring page she was working on and threw it at him. "Get back to your homework, Jackie Boy! We don't want any ideas about a snowman."

Holly walked over to the table Jack was sitting at. "We could always look for some of those secret passageways."

Ivy frowned. "Do you think they're still here?"

Holly shrugged. "Sal's passageway probably is."

Jack perked up. "Sal?"

Ivy nodded and started twirling her pen around her fingers. "Sal was our baby brother. Boy, he was cute!"

Holly smiled. "Of course he was! Anyway, his secret chamber is probably still there. And I bet the secret stairway to the tower they're using for Astronomy is still open, too!" She closed the book Jack was looking through. "Alright. Let's go find the secret passage. I think if we let Jack do too much homework right now, he's going to go crazy!"

Ivy grinned and shook her head. "Sounds good! But what about your homework?"

Holly shrugged. "I got it done after I left Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was pretty easy."

Just then, Hermione walked in. "Hey, Ivy, Jack. Have either of you seen Holly? I wanted to see if she wanted to work on our Ancient Runes homework."

Jack looked a bit confused. "You can't find her?" Ivy elbowed him.

"Haven't seen her since Defense Against the Dark Arts." She said nonchalantly. "She's probably up in the Ravenclaw tower, studying. Maybe you'll find her if you look up there."

Hermione nodded and left.

Jack turned to Holly, who was packing up her books and stuff. "She couldn't see you?"

Ivy shook her head. "How'd you get the potion to wear off so fast?"

Holly shrugged. "I don't know. It just happened."

Ivy nodded. "Alright. Well, let's go find that secret passageway!"

* * *

"Has that trap always been there?" Ivy asked Holly as she felt to see if her eyebrows had been singed off.

Holly shook her head, fingering a new hole in her robes. "It was probably added after we left. Sal did come back when he was older. Maybe he installed it then."

Jack gripped his staff tightly. "Your brother must have been crazy!"

Ivy glared at Jack. Holly just shook her head. "No, he was brilliant. There must be a reason for the new traps."

Ivy held up her wand, the tip alit. "More traps?"

Holly shrugged. "Makes sense."

Ivy shook her head and sighed. "I'm pretty sure that door leads to the battlements at the top of the tower."

Jack grinned. "That's great! I'm ready to be done with this cramped tunnel!" Then he grabbed the door and pulled it open.

Instantly, red and blue and green powder fell on him. Then water gushed through the doorway and covered him. When the water had gone, Jack was dyed in various shades of red, blue, and green.

Ivy turned to Holly. "Maybe it was the next door."

"Was that one of your brother's traps, too?" Jack sputtered.

Holly shook her head. "Nope. That was one of mine. If you shut the door, the trap should reset."

Jack slammed the door shut and the three walked on. Finally, they came to a large door at the end of the tunnel. Holly stepped forward and placed her hand on the door, murmuring words as she did so. Finally, she stepped back and nodded.

"It's safe now."

Jack eyed the door warily. "Ivy. Why don't you go first?"

Ivy laughed. "Don't trust us, Jackie Boy?" Then she walked over to where Holly was standing and opened the door.

She and Holly walked out into the cool afternoon air, with Jack quickly following behind. Holly grinned.

"Hey, you can see our house from here!"

Ivy groaned. "That has got to be one of the lamest jokes in the history of lame jokes."

Holly's grin just grew. "So?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. Then she turned to look at the lake. "Hey! We've got a giant squid! That's new!"

Holly rushed over. "We do? That's so cool! I've always wanted a giant squid! We should call it Herbert!"

Jack turned and stared at her. "Herbert?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah. Herbert. Isn't Herbert an amazing name?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You always want to name things Herbert. I think we should name it Isaac!"

Holly frowned. "Come on! Herbert is a much better name than Isaac!"

Ivy shook her head. "No! Isaac is better!"

"Herbert!"

"Isaac!"

Jack shook his head. "What if we call it Pumpkin?"

The twins looked at him. "That's a horrible name!" They yelled.

"Of course we could just name it Muffins," Holly mused.

Ivy nodded. "Muffins is a very good name for a squid."

Jack just stared at the two. "You're naming the squid Muffins?"

"Of course!" Ivy said. "Look at the top. The triangle part looks a lot like the top of a muffin."

Holly snickered. "At least it looks like the top of the muffins Ivy makes."

Ivy punched Holly.

"Hey!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "If you guys are going to be busy, I'm gonna go make some snow in Russia or something, okay? I'll see you later."

Holly nodded. "Just be back before too late. You don't want to get caught sneaking in."

* * *

Holly yawned and looked through her telescope again. Jupiter and Mars weren't going to be near each other for at least another month. She turned and looked at her fellow Ravenclaws. All of them were either peering through their telescopes or studiously writing notes. She sighed and looked up at the stars. Ivy had forced her to drink another of those vile potions again so no one would think she was absent. As long as she didn't have to go to that vile toad's class tomorrow, she would be fine with seeing how long this vial lasted.

"Excuse me," a girl tapped her shoulder. Holly spun around, almost knocking over her telescope in the process. The girl reddened. "Sorry! I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Cho Chang," She held out her hand. "You're Holly, right?"

Holly shook her hand and nodded. "Yeah. Nice to meet you." She turned to reposition her telescope.

"Where are you from?"

"Most recently, Wales."

"So your family moves a lot?"

Holly nodded. "Well, we did when I was younger." Which wasn't a lie – she and Ivy were always moving in search of a new adventure.

"And Ivy and Jack are your siblings, right? Are you triplets?" Cho asked, leaning toward her.

"Ivy and I are twins, but Jack's just a really good friend." Holly looked up from her telescope. "When does this class end?"

"At two, why?"

Holly started packing her things into her bag. "It's one fifty and there's a bunch of clouds coming in from the north-east. I'm pretty sure our teacher isn't going to have us stay ten more minutes when that storm is about three minutes away."

Cho started to protest, but stopped as the teacher announced. "Alright everyone, that's enough for the night. There's a storm coming and we don't want to be caught in the rain."

Holly grinned, grabbed her telescope, and quickly left the tower. "See you later!" she called over her shoulder.

* * *

**Well, I promise I'm not dead...at least I don't think so...let me get back to you guys on that...**


	8. Chapter 8--titles

Chapter eight, I guess.

Jack flew over a small town, dusting the area with white powder. He laughed as he glazed the roads in ice. He blew past the school, freezing the doors shut. There wouldn't be any school for these kids today!

Jack turned and admired his handiwork. It was good to be out having fun, not in that stuffy old castle, learning about weird looking animals and gross smelling potions. Impulsively, he blasted the school doors with even more snow. Then he jumped onto the wind and shouted, "Hey! Take me to Jamie!" Instantly, he was flying away from the snow-swathed town and toward Burgess.

Moments later, he was tapping on the sleeping boy's window. "Jamie, hey! Jamie, wake up!"

After a few moments, he snuck in. "Jamie! It's me!"

The boy rubbed his eyes. "Jack? What're you doing here? And what happened to your hair?"

The teen shrugged and ran his fingers through his multicolored hair. "It's a long story. But, I thought I'd just come and say hi!"

Jamie smiled. "Can you tell me the story? Please?"

Jack grinned and settled down on the bed. "Well, I met two immortal sisters –"

"They're like you?" Jamie cut in.

"Kind of. They're a lot older than I am, though. Anyway, I met Holly and Ivy a few weeks after the battle with Pitch," Jack continued. "And…."

_~Another time skip while Jack retells everything that's happened so far in the story. If you really want to read all of that again, please just reread the chapters.~_

_~I'd rather not write all of that again. ~_

"Wow," Jamie sighed. "It's so cool that you get to go to a school for wizards!"

Jack groaned. "But it's school! There's nothing fun about that!"

Jamie just looked at the eternal teen. "Nothing fun! You got a bunch of dye dumped on you! How is that not fun?"

Jack smiled. "I guess you're right. But I'd rather be making snow storms and blizzards instead."

Suddenly, there was a tapping noise at the window.

"What's that?" Jamie asked, turning to the window.

Jack turned as well. "Oh! That's my owl!" He ran and opened the window. The snowy owl flew in and drifted in a lazy circle before settling on Jamie's nightstand.

Jamie pet the bird in awe. "What's its name?"

Jack frowned and closed the window. "I haven't come up with one yet. It's a girl."

Jamie grinned. "You should name her Elsa!"

Jack grinned. "Ivy wanted me to name her that, too." He stroked the owl's feathers. "Maybe I will name her that."

"What's that on her leg?" Jamie pointed to a cream colored slip of parchment tied on the bird's leg with a scarlet thread.

Jack untied the thread and unrolled the parchment. "It's a note," He explained. "From Holly."

Jack–

Hope you're having fun wherever you are. Just remember, we do kind of have to be here at Hogwarts during the day. If you aren't back by lunch, Ivy and I can cover for you. Just go to the hospital wing, alright? And don't get caught - you don't want detention. Trust me.

~Holly

"Hey, Jamie, what time is it?" Jack turned to look for Jamie's alarm clock.

"It's seven," Jamie held up the clock. "Why?"

Jack picked up his staff and opened the window. "I've got to get back to Hogwarts."

"Oh," Jamie looked down. "Alright."

Jack turned. "Hey, I'll come and visit you again, alright? I promise!"

Jamie smiled and bounced up and down a little. "Okay!"

Jack ruffled his hair. "See ya later." Then he hopped onto the window sill and let the wind catch him. "To Hogwarts!"

Jack circled the castle. "I wonder where the hospital wing is," he murmured. He looked down at the note. "Holly, why couldn't you give me directions?"

Suddenly, the words of the note disappeared and the words "Look at the back of the parchment, stupid!" replaced them. Jack flipped the note over and realized that Holly had drawn a very detailed map showing exactly where the hospital wing was, along with another small note that said there would be a window open to let him in.

Jack floated down toward one of the towers. Sure enough, a window was open. He snuck through, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Jack crept up to a bed and sat down on it. He waited a little while, then tiptoed to the door. He jumped back when the door burst open. The toad lady stormed through, followed by another lady, this one in an oversized nurse's cap, and Ivy.

"He collapsed on his way to breakfast this morning! He needs to rest! I will not have you disturbing my patient!" The lady cried.

"Madam Pomfrey," The toad lady said sweetly, "Mr. Frost looks perfectly healthy, if a bit pale." She glared at Jack's hair "Although his hair is a bit odd."

"That's one of the side effects of the spell he was hit with. The side effects are faintness, paleness, and oddly colored hair," Ivy said.

The toad lady stared a bit longer at Jack. "I will check in on this later. How long will he need to stay in bed?"

Madam Pomfrey huffed. "Until I say he can leave."

The toad lady nodded and spun on her heel. "Fine. You will inform me of when you release him?"

"I will tell the Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey lifted her chin. "If he thinks it necessary to tell you, then he can inform you."

The toad lady glared at the nurse. "Of course," she agreed in her childish voice. "I will talk to Professor Dumbledore, then." Then she left, slamming the door behind her.

Madam Pomfrey collapsed on the bed next to Jack. "I thought she'd never leave!"

Ivy laughed. "Well, you did very well! Didn't she Jack?"

Jack looked at the two of them worriedly. "Sure, I guess."

Madam Pomfrey laughed again. "Ivy, he doesn't recognize me either! How long till my hour's up?"

Ivy looked up at the clock on the wall. "One minute."

"Her hour?" Jack asked, confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

Ivy shushed him. "Not now. Tell us what you've been doing."

Jack glanced at the nurse that was flopped out on the bed next to him. "Well, I caused a few snowstorms in Russia and Canada."

"And?" Ivy prompted.

"And I went to see Jamie," Jack continued.

"Ha! I knew it! Pay up!" Holly's voice crowed.

Jack whirled to see Holly sitting right where the nurse had been. Ivy rolled her eyes and dug into her pocket to retrieve two Galleons and a bag of chocolates.

"When did you get here?" Jack asked Holly.

Ivy grinned. "She's been here the whole time, Jackie Boy!"

"No, she hasn't!" Jack protested. "I would have seen her!"

Holly laughed. "Oh, Jackie Boy, you're funny! There's this potion called the Polyjuice Potion. If you drop a bit of a person's DNA into it, you can turn into them for about an hour."

"We were worried when you didn't come down to breakfast," Ivy explained. "Especially since your first class was with that toad, Umbridge. So Holly came up with a beautiful plan."

"We talked one of your fellow Hufflepuffs into telling Umbridge that you had collapsed on your way to breakfast and had been sent to the hospital wing," Holly continued.

"You should thank Ernie Whatshisbucket later," Ivy added.

"Yeah. That'd be good," Holly agreed. "Anyway, Ivy watched the Umbridge's door while I came up here to get a bit of the real Madam Pomfrey's hair, and give her a sleeping potion."

"And the note? When did you send that?" Jack asked.

"I sent that right before lunch," Holly answered. "We figured you got busy and needed to be reminded. I'm glad that your owl found you and you got here before Umbridge barged through the door."

Jack nodded. "Alright. So, what happened next?"

Ivy smiled, "When I saw Umbridge come out of her office and start walking up here, I used a mirror to get up here and warn Holly. She prepared the potion and took it while I went and sat in front of the doors to stall Umbridge."

"So we stalled for a while. Luckily, you were here when Umbridge pushed past us. You know the rest." Holly waved her hand elegantly.

"And you guys bet on where I was?" Jack smiled.

Ivy groaned. "Yeah. You know, you lost me two Galleons and twelve chocolate truffles? Why did you go see Jamie?"

"Ivy, it doesn't matter!" Holly rolled her eyes. "What matters is that we've got to get out of here before Madam Pomfrey wakes up."

Ivy nodded and went to the doors. "I'll make sure Umbridge doesn't come back with Dumbledore. You go do whatever your need to."

Holly grinned. "Thanks, sis. Jack, will you grab the two brooms in the broom closet? We're going to fly out the window."

As soon as Jack nodded, Holly ran into the office.

Jack opened the broom closet and grabbed two brooms that reminded him of brooms from the seventeenth century. "Are these them?" He shouted to Ivy.

Ivy glanced back and nodded. Then she turned back to the door.

Holly walked back into the room, brushing her hands. "Alright. Let's blow this popsicle stand." She grabbed a broom from Jack and mounted it. Ivy rushed over and took the other broom, then went to stand by the window.

"Jack, we're going to leave you here," Holly instructed. "Once we're out the window, shut and lock it. Then wait around for a few minutes and leave. Just go to your next class. Got it?"

Jack nodded and grinned. "Don't forget to change out of those clothes, Holly. We don't want anybody getting suspicious."

Holly blushed as she realized that she was indeed still dressed in an ill-fitting nurse's uniform.

Ivy laughed and took that opportunity to pull out a camera and snap a quick picture. "That's going in the album!"

Holly rolled her eyes and flew through the window. "We'll see you at dinner."

Ivy winked at Jack. "See ya later, Jackie Boy!" Then she flew out the window too.

Jack walked over and shut and locked the window. He stood there a few minutes, frosting designs onto the panes. After a bit, he walked over to the double doors. Holding an ear to one of them, he listened for any footsteps or breathing. Once he was satisfied that he was safe, he pulled open the doors and walked quickly out.

"Mister Frost!" a screechy, girlish voice stopped Jack in his tracks. He turned to face the toad lady.

"Yeah?"

"Mister Frost, what are you doing out of the hospital wing?" Professor Umbridge asked sweetly.

"I'm going to Herbology?" Jack replied slowly, allowing a bit of a question to slip into his answer.

"Did Madam Pomfrey allow you to leave?"

"Yeah." Jack was certain Holly would be okay with being called Madam Pomfrey once more.

Umbridge's eyes glinted triumphantly. "Lies! I've just been to talk with Madam Pomfrey and she said she doesn't even remember seeing you come in!"

Jack thought quickly. "Well, you saw me there, didn't you? And Ivy was there, she followed you in."

Umbridge laughed softly. "Oh, I know you were there. I just don't think you were there all morning, or because you got hit by a spell. You and Miss Fallen and her sister are very good friends, aren't you? So, of course she would be there to stand guard. Professor Flitwick tells me the other Miss Fallen was in Charms when it happened, but I'm sure she had something to do with it."

Jack took a deep breath. "Didn't Ernie tell you that I had passed out on the way to breakfast? If I passed out, where else would I go except the hospital wing?"

Umbridge's smile shrunk a tiny bit. "Detention Mister Frost. We shall continue this conversation later."

Jack watched as she walked away, then hurried out to Herbology. He'd have to warn the others during dinner.

"So, she's smarter than we thought," Ivy summarized. "But what I don't get is why Madam Pomfrey didn't remember you coming in. Holly, I thought you placed those memories in her head."

Holly squirmed and poured herself a glass of eggnog. "I hate modifying memories, even to help us. I didn't place any memories in her head."

Ivy snorted, "It's a good thing no one else was in there, then. Who knows what would have happened."

"Anyway," Holly said, getting a strange glint in her eye, "I'm almost happy she's smarter than we anticipated. This year might actually be interesting!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, could you point out Ernie for me? I guess I should say thanks now."

Holly nodded absentmindedly. "Sure. You know, Ivy, we should really make an alliance with the Weasley twins. I have a feeling the five of us could make some beautiful mischief."

"Sounds good to me!" Ivy grinned. "Come on, Jackie Boy! I'll introduce you to Ernie."

** Hey!** **So, I was rereading chapter two to see if I had given Jack's owl a name...and I didn't. So, anyone have any suggestions? On that same train of though - Harald. The play on words is that it sounds like herald (kind of), which is what a mail owl would be, kind of. It took me a few hours to remember that. Sometimes...**

**The next chapter will be up soon...I hope...we'll see. And then I'll try to get on a good schedule and not just post whenever I have another chapter done. I'll have to really pace myself and possibly ban myself from the internet/my computer...but I will work on that!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine…or something close to that.

"Come on, Potter, we have detention to go to," Ivy chirped from the portrait hole. At this he sighed and headed towards the eccentric girl.

"We're going to have such fun," she grinned as the two of them headed towards the pink toad's office.

"Ivy, you're crazy," Harry deadpanned.

"Harry, how often do you get to annoy the most revolting toad you have ever seen?" Ivy grinned, skipping ahead. Harry couldn't help but smile at the girl. She had a very interesting point.

* * *

"Jackie Boy! Fancy meeting you here!" Ivy exclaimed as she and Harry walked up to the toad's office. Jack rolled his eyes and nodded to Harry.

"Well, let's get this over with, alright?" Jack said as he gently rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Come in," a sickly-sweet, girly voice answered. The three friends slowly entered the room. It was filled with cat covered ornamental plates and overly pink, the sight of which made Ivy almost puke.

"You'll be writing lines," the toad lady instructed as Harry, Jack, and Ivy walked toward a small, lace covered table that had three sheets of parchment laid out on it. Jack and Ivy sat, but Harry shifted nervously and stayed standing.

"Er, Professor Umbridge?" Harry started. "Er – before we start, I-I wanted to ask you a…a favor."

Ivy raised her eyebrows as Umbridge's eyes narrowed.

"Oh yes?"

"Well I'm … I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was – was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it – do it another night…instead…" Harry trailed off as if he could see that asking was of no use.

"Oh no," Umbridge said, smiling widely and looking like she had swallowed an abnormally large, juicy fly. "Oh no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainy cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you."

Ivy gave him a sad smile as Umbridge proclaimed sweetly, "There, we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we?" Ivy's smile turned to a frown and she clutched her robes, trying not to stand up and punch the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in her overly large mouth. Jack noticed and put a hand over hers, trying to calm her down. She took a breath and leaned down to grab a quill from her bag.

"You won't be needing those," Umbridge added. "You'll be using these." The toad pulled out thin, black quills with unusually sharp points. As Ivy took one of the quills, she noticed a sense of dark magic emanating from it. She tucked that piece of information away to share with Holly later.

"Professor, why is there no ink well? Ivy asked in an overly innocent tone.

"Oh, you won't need ink," Umbridge grinned and chuckled ever so softly.

"What are we supposed to write?" Jack asked as he grabbed a quill and shuddered.

"You will write 'I must not sluff classes'." She turned to Harry, "You will write 'I must not tell lies' and you," she glared at Ivy, "will write 'I must come to class prepared'."

"How many times?" Harry asked, with incredible politeness.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to _sink in_," Umbridge answered sweetly. "Off you go."

Ivy scratched out a quick 'I must come to class prepared' and felt a searing pain on the back of her hand. She stared at the back of her hand, where the words had appeared and then quickly disappeared. Harry gasped in pain and Ivy turned to see him staring at the back of his hand, too. He looked up at her in horror, and she shrugged. She turned to Jack, who was looking at them with a confused look on his face. She shook her head and all three of them turned to look at Umbridge, who was watching them with her toadlike mouth stretched into a large smile.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," Harry said quietly and they all turned back to their work.

Ivy wrote another line, felt the same searing pain, and surreptitiously glanced back at the toad lady. She seemed to be focused on Harry, so Ivy leaned forward and smelled the red ink on the page. Blood. Ivy leaned back and set the quill on the parchment. The quills used the users' blood as ink. She glanced again at Umbridge. The toad lady was still watching Harry, who was laboring over his lines. Ivy looked back at her hand. The wound had already healed, although the skin where the lines had been was slightly redder than the rest of the back of her hand. But if it was going to scar, Ivy didn't want to be stuck with 'I must come to class prepared' on the back of her hand for forever. She thought for a minute, then grinned and started writing 'Ivy LURVES Jack!'

* * *

After an hour, Ivy looked up from her parchment and looked around her. Umbridge was still watching Harry, who was gritting his teeth and scratching the pen across the parchment. Ivy had to admit, he kept his pain in very well. When she turned to Jack, she was surprised to see him lazily dragging his quill across the surface of his parchment. She stealthily leaned over and saw that there wasn't anything written on it. Instead, there were just scratch marks where Jack had drawn snowflakes and gone over them multiple times. Ivy caught Jack's eye and nodded to his parchment, raising her eyebrows in question. He shrugged, held up his quill, and mouthed, "Maybe it's defective?" Ivy shrugged and went back to writing 'Ivy LURVES Jack!" in big, flourishing letters. As she wrote, she silently put a small glamour over the lines, so that if the toad did look over at her, it would seem like she was writing what she was supposed to. As an afterthought, she placed a small glamour over Jack's parchment too.

Around one in the morning, Umbridge called them over to her desk. Ivy quickly glamoured Jack's hand to look like Harry's and joined Harry in front of the desk.

"Hands," she said.

They held their hands out and she took Jack's and looked carefully at it. "Fine. You may go." Next, she took Ivy's and examined it. "I think you'd better come in once more. I'll see you tomorrow night." Ivy started to protest, but the toad had already grabbed Harry's hand.

"I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said with a smile. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."

Harry, Ivy, and Jack left without a word. Once they were out of the corridor, Harry broke into a run. Jack was about to follow him to see if he was okay, but Ivy grabbed his hand. "Hang on," she murmured. She brushed her hand over the back of his and took the glamour away. "There we go!"

Jack's curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "What were those things?"

Ivy shrugged. "I've never seen anything like them. But they use the blood of the user as their ink."

"So why didn't the quills work on me?" Jack questioned.

Ivy shrugged again. "I'll have to ask Holly. She'd probably be able to figure it out in a jiffy. In fact," she started pulling him down the hall, "let's go ask her right now."

"Don't you think she'd be asleep by now?"

Ivy stopped. "Maybe. We don't need much sleep, though, only about three or four hours." She started walking again. "I bet she's awake. Bet you anything she's awake."

"Darn right I'm awake," a voice whispered right behind Jack. He jumped and spun around to see Holly standing there, hands on her hips. "I've been waiting for you two to get out of there for the past few hours. Did she really have to keep you that long?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Apparently. And guess what? I got stuck with another detention tomorrow!"

Holly frowned. "I'm pretty sure she can't do that. What did she have you doing, anyway?"

So Ivy launched into a very vivid description of the ordeal she, Harry, and Jack went through, only leaving out exactly what she had decided to write instead of 'I must come prepared to class'.

"Alright," Holly said. "I think I know why those quills don't work on Jack."

Jack leaned forward. "Why?"

Holly poked him. "Because you don't have any blood. You're a spirit."

"I am?" "He is?" Jack and Ivy said at the same time.

Holly nodded. "Yeah. You're the Winter Spirit. You kind of died that time you fell into that lake." Then she frowned. "But you were reborn after that…" She shrugged. "I'll check into that later. In the meantime, just know that that's why those quills didn't work on you. You don't have any blood."

Jack stood silently for a minute, stunned. "Why did the quill work on Ivy if we're dead?"

Holly leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "We're not dead."

Jack looked over at Ivy. "You aren't, but I am?"

Ivy shrugged. "I didn't know you were dead."

Holly grabbed Ivy and Jack and started pulling them down the hall. "Come on. If we're going to talk about this now, we should find someplace private."

* * *

"Alright," Holly laced her hands behind her head and leaned against one of the rocks surrounding them. "Now, what do you want to know, Jack?"

"How is it that you guys aren't dead and I am?"

Ivy smiled. "I can answer that one. It's because we didn't die."

Jack frowned. "Alright."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Look. There are two types of legendary figures: those who did something amazing, died, and then were picked by the Man in the Moon and those who did something, or a bunch of things, that were impossible. We just happen to be part of the second group."

Jack nodded. "Okay. That sort of makes sense. But what about everyone else? Am I just an anomaly?"

Holly shrugged. "I'm not sure. It kind of depends. Honestly, I think we're all anomalies and the Man in the Moon just brought some of us together as Guardians and left some of us to ourselves."

"Yeah," Ivy agreed. "Because how North became a legend is different from how Tooth became a legend and her story's different from Bunny's and his is different from Sandy's and –"

"You get the idea." Holly cut in.

Jack sat up. "So, how did you two become legends?"

Ivy sat up and looked at the moon, which was setting behind the Forbidden Forest. "We should save that for later. I think I want to get at least an hour of sleep before breakfast."

Holly stood up. "Good idea. If we hurry now, we can probably fool some of our dormmates into thinking we've been there all night."

Jack and Ivy stood as well. "You will tell me later, right?" Jack asked.

"Pinky promise." Ivy held out her pinky.

Jack just stared at it. Ivy sighed and grabbed his pinkie with hers, then shook it. "It means that if I break my promise, you get to break my pinkie. It's about as serious a promise as you can make."

Jack grinned and shook his head. "Kay. You better keep your promise then, because if you don't," he wiggled his pinkie, "I'm totally taking advantage of that!"

Ivy laughed and slugged him. "Don't worry, Jackie Boy! I won't break my promise!"

* * *

**Hey! Well, that should be chapter nine. I get some of the dialogue/scene from _Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix_. Oh, and if you are able to, I highly suggest reading the thing on Pottermore about Umbridge. It's wonderful! Anyway, chapter ten may or may not be out soon...it depends on how the week goes...and how next week goes. So, in case I don't have it up by Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Try and steal one of the toad lady's quills for me, okay?" Holly whispered to Ivy as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Ivy stuffed a sausage in her mouth. "Why?"

Holly grabbed a goblet and poured herself some eggnog. "So I can see how she made it." Holly looked at the pitcher in her hand. "You know I almost feel bad taking this from the Slytherin table every day. Maybe we should talk to those house elves about it."

"I'll see what I can do about the quill." Ivy snickered, "You know, I'm not sure the house elves will appreciate you sneaking into the kitchen to tell them you want another pitcher of eggnog at a different table."

Holly shrugged. "I'm just thinking about that poor guy who keeps trying to stop me. I'm pretty sure he's going to hurt himself if he keeps getting in the way of my hand and the eggnog pitcher."

Ivy laughed, making Jack and Hermione turn to look at them. "I can't believe it! You sock Draco Malfoy, the biggest bully of all the bullies here, every day to get some eggnog and you're feeling sorry about it? Holly, you've got the weirdest conscience ever!"

Holly grinned. "It's not weird! I just feel bad for punching him every morning just to get a pitcher of eggnog when there are easier ways to get it."

"At least he's learning how to share," Jack cut in.

Holly rolled her eyes. "And of course this is the best way to teach him that."

"Yep!" Ivy and Jack affirmed.

Holly shook her head. "Whatever." She then grabbed a muffin, signaling the end of the conversation.

After a brief, uncomfortable silence, Jack turned to Ivy and Hermione. "Where are Harry and Ron?"

Both girls shrugged. "They're probably upstairs finishing up their homework," Hermione suggested. "Which reminds me. Holly, did you finish the Ancient Runes assignment?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah. How about you?"

Hermione nodded and leaned forward. "Oh, yes. Did you have trouble on the third passage? I found it rather difficult to discern the difference between _ruler_ and _servant_. They seem so similar."

"That's because the people whose runes we're studying thought of their rulers as servants of the people," Holly explained, grabbing a napkin and drawing the runes. "That's why those two runes are so similar. They wanted that ideal to be shown in their writings. The runes for enemy, oppressor, and tyrant are similar for the same reasons."

"That's so interesting!" Hermione exclaimed. "Where did you learn that?"

Holly blushed. "I had a teacher at my last school who was very interested in that," she lied. Telling Hermione that she had grown up reading and writing those runes was definitely not an option. "She'd point those similarities out every time we came to them."

Luckily, Hermione bought it. "That's so cool! Perhaps you could show me more of them later!"

Holly nodded. "Sounds like fun!"

"Well, I'm glad you two nerds are having fun," Ivy cut in, waving her knife in the air between the two. "But I think we'd better be heading to our classes now. You know, if we want to be on time."

Jack tossed a grape at her. "You're no fun!"

Ivy grabbed at her heart, acting as if he had given her a fatal wound. "Jack, I'm hurt! I'm loads of fun! I just realized that most of the other students are gone."

Jack looked around and realized that most of the students had left the Great Hall. "Oh."

Holly laughed and stood up. "Fine. See you in Potions, Jack."

* * *

When Holly walked into Potions, Jack was saving her a spot.

"What took you so long?" Jack whispered.

Holly shrugged. "I was busy. Besides, it's a long walk from Transfiguration down here."

"Quiet, everyone." Snape said as he stalked into the room. "Today you'll be making Draught of Peace. I doubt I need tell you Ravenclaws the dangers of doing this potion incorrectly, but for the rest of you Hufflepuffs, be warned. One wrong ingredient, one missed step, and your potion could put the drinker in an endless sleep." He tapped the blackboard with his wand and words appeared on it. "These are the ingredients and procedures. You have the rest of the class period to work on the potion." Then he swished behind his desk and sat down, glaring over his nose at the class.

Holly and Jack walked over to the student supplies cabinet. As Jack read off the ingredients, Holly grabbed them from the shelves and put what they needed into her cauldron.

"We need eel eyes?" Jack frowned.

Holly took a glass jar from the middle shelf. "I guess so. How many do we need?"

Jack looked back at the blackboard. "Six, three for each of us."

Holly grimaced. "Great. I hate these. The texture is so weird."

Jack grinned. "Maybe you should grab a few extra. You know, just in case either of us mess up."

Holly glared at him. "I haven't messed up for centuries. If you mess up, you're just going to have to work with it. This is a very long brewing potion."

"Thanks for the advice." Jack's grin grew. "I'll be sure to remember that." Then he noticed Holly had slipped a few more potions ingredients from the student stores. "What are those for?"

Holly looked down at the ingredients sheepishly. "Ivy and I figured out a way to lessen the brewing time considerably a few decades back. These are the extra ingredients we had to use."

Jack rolled his eyes and finished reading out the ingredients on the blackboard to Holly. "…and we need syrup of hellebore." Holly grabbed one last phial of liquid and picked up her cauldron. "Alright! Let's get brewing!"

Jack soon realized that Potions was not going to be his best class. No matter what he tried, he couldn't stir his cauldron without ice forming around his wand. Holly, when she wasn't working on her potion, would watch to make sure he was doing everything else right.

"You just need a sprig of dried valerian, not a bunch."

"Step away from it very slowly, _very slowly_. Good. Now maybe it will heat up enough in seven minutes that you won't be adding that hellebore to a block of ice."

About halfway through the lesson, Jack turned to see Holly adding a little bit of a greenish liquid to her cauldron. "What's that?" he asked a bit abruptly.

"Essence of Peppermint," Holly explained, wafting the vessel under his nose. The sharp tang of mint greeted him and he nodded.

"What does it do?"

"Gives the potion a nice taste," Holly grinned. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "And it counteracts the stinksap." She looked over his shoulder at his cauldron. "I think you might want to stir that again."

Jack spun to see a green haze and purple sparks emanating from his cauldron. He grabbed his wand and whisked it through the potion a few times. Eventually he sighed and motioned Holly over. "D'ya think he'll accept a popsicle?" Holly snorted and shook her head.

"Let me try to help you. My potion just needs to rest for a few minutes, then it'll be done." Holly looked at the clock. "Looks like we've got fifteen minutes left. How about restarting the burner beneath your cauldron and then slowly start swirling your wand around. But don't focus on the potion," she added hastily. "Focus on something else. Ask me something. What do you want to talk about?"

Jack thought for a minute. "How did you and Ivy become legends?"

Holly shook her head. "Save that for when we're with Ivy. Pick something else."

Jack nodded. "Okay then. Why didn't I ever meet you guys till after the battle with Pitch?"

"Who's to say you didn't pass us by whenever you could have seen us? It doesn't seem like you were that focused on other immortal beings." Holly shrugged, "Of course, we didn't try too terribly hard to meet you till after the battle. But when we did! Do you know it took Ivy and me three weeks to catch up with you? We stopped at the Pole, the Warren, Tooth's Palace, even Burgess! Everywhere we went, you had just left, or they hadn't seen you for a bit. It was so aggravating!" Holly grinned. "That's why Ivy pounced on you when we finally met. She didn't want you to disappear. So, I think it was partially your fault we didn't meet sooner. You can stop stirring now."

Jack stared at her for a minute, then realized that she meant he could stop stirring his cauldron. "Oh."

Holly leaned over and looked at his potion. "That's as good as it's gonna get. At least the smoke is silver, if it is a little thick. And it isn't spitting sparks anymore. That's good. You should probably put it in a phial and mark it as yours."

Just then, Professor Snape announced that there were just ten minutes left and that a light silver vapor should be rising off their potions. Holly grinned and winked at Jack. Then she got out one of her phials, poured a bit of her potion in, stopped the top, and stuck a label on it. Jack carefully poured out a portion of his potion and sealed the top. After carefully writing his name and house on a label, he stuck the label on the miniature flask.

"Now what?" He asked Holly, not noticing the frost forming on the glass container in his hand.

"Now we clean up, put these on the front desk, and leave," Holly said, pouring the rest of her potion into a larger flask.

"Do I need to save the rest of my potion, too?"

"Nope. Just wave your wand over your cauldron like this and say '_Evanesco_'. That'll basically make the potion in your cauldron disappear." Holly stuffed the flask and her cauldron in her bag and stood up, shouldering it.

Jack followed Holly's instructions, then followed her to the front of the room. As they were walking out the door, Snape called Jack back in.

"What is the meaning of this?" He growled, holding up Jack's potion.

"What?" Jack asked confusedly.

"Your potion!" He sneered. "Why is it frozen?"

Jack stared at the vial in Snape's hand. Sure enough, the potion was frozen solid. Jack turned to Holly, who shrugged. Turning back to Snape, he saw that a cruel smile was starting to form on the Potion Master's lips. Instinctively, Jack grabbed his staff from his pocket and froze Snape's head.

Holly snorted behind him and pulled him through the doorway. "C'mon. The faster we get away, the less likely it is that you'll get a detention tonight." Once they were on the main level, she turned to him. "Okay. We should be safe now. See you at lunch." She waved and walked away, towards the staircases.

* * *

At first, Ivy's second detention with the toad lady was kind of boring. She and Harry walked in to Umbridge's office, sat down silently at the table, and quickly got to work. After a little while, Ivy mumbled a spell under her breath. Umbridge started coughing umcontrollably. While she stumbled over to a teapot, Ivy stuffed her quill in her pocket and pulled out an exact replica that she had made after dinner. Setting it beside her parchment, she grabbed a pink lozenge from another pocket.

"Would you like a cough drop?" Ivy offered the tablet to Umbridge.

The professor nodded and snatched the 'cough drop' up. She popped it in her mouth and her coughing stopped.

"I think that's enough for tonight. Let me see your hands." Umbridge said a bit breathlessly.

Ivy and Harry let her inspect their hands, then left.

"You're lucky that was your last detention," Harry sighed, rubbing his stinging hand.

Ivy shrugged and inspected her fading scars. "I don't know. I'll have to put some cream on this if I want it to stay."

Harry stared at her. "You _want_ your scars?"

Ivy nodded. "Of course! Look what I wrote!"

Harry stared at her hand. There, in big cursive letters was 'Ivy LURVES Jack!'

"You like it?" Ivy asked after he had stared for a few minutes. "I'm pretty sure Holly will hate it, but that's just because I wrote 'lurves' instead of 'loves'."

Harry slowly shook his head. "How did you get that past Umbridge?"

Ivy grinned. "I put a glamour on what I wrote. And on my hand." Ivy paused at the turn to Gryffindor tower. "I've got to go meet Holly. I'll see you later, okay?" As Harry nodded, she raced off in the opposite direction.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

When Ivy got to the Great Hall, she found Holly already sitting at the Gryffindor table, pouring a goblet of eggnog.

"So, did you figure out how she made it?"

Holly shook her head. "And I was up half the night, too. I've been thinking, though. What if she knows how to use blood magic?"

Ivy paled. "You don't really think she does, do you?"

"I'm not sure," Holly said grimly. "But just in case, we need to get those parchments."

Ivy nodded, lost in thought. Then she grinned. "You know those candies we made for Halloween a few years ago? The ones that make you look like an animal?" When Holly nodded, she chuckled and continued. "I gave one to Umbridge."

Holly's eyes widened and the corners of her mouth started to lift into a mischievous grin. "Which one?"

"The pink one," Ivy winked.

Holly gasped. "Do you think she'll come to breakfast?"

"Maybe," Ivy laughed. "Sometimes it takes a while to notice you look a bit odd."

"But you gave it to her last night!" Holly protested.

Ivy nodded. "Yeah, but I told her it was a cough drop, so she sucked on it. So won't the effects last longer?"

"Yeah." Holly tried to be serious, then broke into giggles. "At least a day longer than normal."

Ivy snickered. "Wonderful!"

Jack came and sat down across from them. "What's going on?"

"You'll see," Ivy winked and tossed him a piece of toast.

"Well, whatever it is, it must be pretty big," Jack took a bite of the toast. "Holly's giggling."

Holly took a deep breath. "No, I'm not. I'm totally, perfectly, serious right now."

Jack nodded understandingly and froze her eggnog. Ivy snorted into her pumpkin juice and Holly erupted into laughter again. Jack grinned and took a bite out of his toast, "Totally, perfectly, serious."

Holly stuck her tongue out and thawed her eggnog. "Anyway, do you have Defense Against the Dark Arts today, Jack?"

Jack shook his head. "I had it Tuesday, remember? I think the younger classes are stuck with the toad lady today."

Holly and Ivy shook with silent laughter at the mention of the toad, but were able to control themselves otherwise.

"What's wrong with Ivy and Holly?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Jack.

Jack shrugged. "All I know is that it has something to do with Umbridge."

"That toad." Hermione sniffed. Ivy snorted again and Holly elbowed her.

"Doesn't she usually come down to breakfast?" Holly asked carefully.

Hermione shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I think if she did, she'd be here already."

Holly looked up at the teacher's table. "I don't see her."

Ivy frowned and poked her wand at the kippers on her plate, causing them to float in the air and try to swim. "So, are there any students we know who have her today?"

"I think Ginny has her today," Hermione frowned. "Why?"

"Do you think you could introduce us?" Holly asked, ignoring the question. "I have a favor to ask of her."

Hermione stood. "I'll go get her."

As soon as she left, Holly elbowed Ivy, breaking her concentration. "What did you do that for?" Ivy demanded as the fish fell back to her plate.

"I don't think anyone but you appreciated that." Holly said truthfully.

Ivy pouted. "But I was just getting them to do loop-de-loops!"

Just then, Hermione returned with a red-headed girl by her side. "Ginny, this is Jack Frost, Holly, and Ivy. Holly, Ivy, Jack, this is Ginny Weasley."

Ivy's face brightened as she grinned. "You're related to Fred and George? Fantastic!"

As everyone laughed at Ivy's enthusiasm, Holly leaned forward. "You've got the toad lady today, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Ginny asked.

"Can you do me a favor? Ivy did something to her and I need a few pictures." Holly explained. "I've got a tiny camera right here, all you have to do is point and shoot."

"Sounds easy enough!" Ginny grinned. "I've got her right before lunch."

Holly stood and walked across the table, then jumped down so she was standing right behind the youngest Weasley. "Alright, let's get you set up now then. The camera's in this ring, here." She slid a ring attached to a cord onto Ginny's middle finger. "The cord goes down your sleeve, across your back, and down your other sleeve, like so." She adjusted everything so it looked more natural. "Now, to take a picture, the stone in the ring has to be facing the target. Then, you squeeze this bulb and wait a second. I'd practice in a few of your other classes, just so you get the hang of it. But be careful, you've only got thirty pictures on there." Holly adjusted the younger girl's robes once more and stood back, examining her. "Looks good. How does it feel?"

Ginny swung her arms around. "Fine. You can hardly tell the cord's even there."

Holly nodded. "Great. Thanks so much!"

Ginny grinned. "You're welcome! I guess I'll see you at lunch!" She waved goodbye to Ivy, Hermione, and Jack and walked back to her friends.

"What was Ginny doing here?" Ron asked as he and Harry walked up to the table.

"Just doing a favor for me!" Holly grinned, walking back across the table to sit next to her sister.

The group ate in silence for a while, then Holly turned to Harry.

"Harry, do you know where the Headmaster's office is? I need to ask him something."

Harry nodded. "Sure. You go up to the third floor, turn east, and stop at the big gargoyle in an alcove. That's the entrance. But you'll need the password."

"I'll be fine!" Holly winked. "In fact, I think I'll go and see him now. He's probably just sitting down to eat right now."

Ivy looked up. "I'll walk up with you." She shoved the last of her food in her mouth and stood up. "Lef's guh!"

Holly rolled her eyes. "I'll see you guys at lunch."

As she and Ivy quickly walked out of the Great Hall, Ron turned to Jack.

"What do you think she's going to talk to Dumbledore about?"

Jack shrugged. "She never tells me anything."

"Why do you two always sit with us?" Hermione wondered.

Jack shrugged again. "I sit here because Holly and Ivy sit here." He speared a sausage and chewed thoughtfully. "Not sure about Holly, though. I think she does it to make sure Ivy doesn't misbehave." He shrugged once more. "Or it could be so Ivy can keep an eye on Holly." He paused. "Or maybe it's just an interesting psychological phenomenon."

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione just stared at him, Jack scowled. "'Everybody's seen this one,' they said. 'It's a classic,' they said. Stupid girls." He muttered to himself, then stood up. "See you guys later."

As he stalked off, Harry turned to Ron. "Did it just get a bit colder in here?"

* * *

"…I'm just saying don't go all ancient queen on him, alright?"

Holly grinned and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I won't. Besides, I'm just looking out for Harry. Isn't that what we came here to do? Watch over the kids here?"

Ivy nodded. "True. Just don't scare Dumbledore, alright? You get kinda scary when you turn on your regalness."

"I don't think Dumbledore is the type that scares easily, Ivy. Anyway," Holly continued, pausing at the gargoyle. "Do you have the password? North gave it to you, right?"

Ivy shook her head. "I thought he gave it to you."

"Nope." Holly frowned. "You don't think he gave it to Jack, do you?"

The twins looked at each other for a minute, then shook their heads. "Nah!"

Down in the fifth-year Hufflepuff boy's dormitory, a white-haired teen pulled a slip of parchment from his sweatshirt pocket.

"'Acid pops'?" Jack read. "I wonder why North gave me this." So saying, he threw it into the fire and walked out.

Ivy leaned against the wall as Holly paced back and forth. "Maybe you can use your magic to bypass the statue."

Holly pursed her lips. "I tried that. Maybe…" She walked up to the gargoyle and placed her hand on the statue's brow. "Sir Gargoyle, what is your name?"

"Dom." Came the grumpy reply.

Holly looked at Ivy, who shrugged. "Well, Sir Dom, as ruler of this castle, I ask that you step aside so I may speak with the headmaster about a very important matter."

"I don't remember there ever being a ruler of the castle." Dom grouched.

"How long have you been here?" Holly asked kindly.

"Since the Four Founders." Dom said proudly, pulling back his shoulders as much as a statue could.

"I see." Holly looked back at Ivy. "Then do you remember Salazar Slytherin?"

"That old sourpuss? Of course I do. When he left, he put a chip in me the size of a bludger! Rowena, she was always so nice to me, tried to fix it, but there's still a bit missing. Right there on my back, see?"

Holly leaned over and looked. "Oh, yes. I see. If I can fix it for you, will you let me pass?"

The gargoyle huffed. "You fix it? How could you fix it? Not even Rowena Ravenclaw could fix it!"

"If I do, will you let me pass?" Holly repeated.

"Sure, sure." Dom said. "If you can fix that, I'll let you go and see the headmaster."

Holly nodded. She stepped back and surveyed the walls around the statue.

"Ivy, do you think you could help me? We're going to have to transmogrify something into the type of stone he is. The stone in the walls isn't right."

Ivy stood and searched through her pockets. "I've got this lump of clay. We could set it on him, shape it how we like, and then turn it to stone."

Holly grinned. "Perfect! Come over here so we can do it."

Ivy walked over and together they filled in the chip.

"Alright, Dom. This might feel a bit funny." Holly warned. She nodded to Ivy and closed her eyes as she forced magic into the clay, focusing on it becoming one with the stone around it. The clay glowed and slowly turned to stone. When it was finished, Holly and Ivy stepped back simultaneously.

"Better?" Ivy asked.

Dom grunted and stepped aside. "Both of you go on up."

Holly patted the gargoyle as they passed. "Thank you."

Dom just grunted and moved back into place behind them.

As the stair slowly curved upward, Ivy turned to Holly. "Why'd you need me to help? You're powerful enough to do something simple like that without even thinking."

Holly shrugged. "But it wouldn't have lasted. With our combined power, it will last as long as Dom."

Ivy thought about that. "You just wanted to get me up here, didn't you?"

Holly looked at her innocently. "I thought you'd want to make sure I didn't go all 'ancient queen' on Dumbledore."

Ivy face palmed. "Fine. But I'm leaving if this cuts into Potions. I think I'm going to really enjoy that class."

Holly laughed. "When is Potions?"

Ivy looked down at her watch. "Five minutes! I've got to go! I'll see you later!" Ivy turned and raced down the stairs, much to Holly's amusement.

"I guess she really does want to get to Potions." Holly mused. Then she turned to the door that she now stood at. "I guess I should knock." She did, and then walked right in.

"Anybody here?" She called out. When no one answered, she walked further in and called again.

"You just missed him." A familiar voice said.

Holly looked around and finally saw the painting that the voice had come from. "Godric! So nice to see you again!"

The man grinned. "Good to see you too! Now, what's this I hear about you being in Ravenclaw this time?"

Holly shrugged. "Ask him." She said, pointing to the Sorting Hat. "He decided, not me."

"Perhaps I will, when Albus gets back." Godric Gryffindor mused. "I'd certainly like to know the answer to this riddle."

"Dumbledore is gone, then?" Holly asked, looking around again.

"Yes, as I said, you just missed him."

"Oh." Holly's shoulders slumped. "I needed to talk to him about something rather important, too. Do you know when he'll be back?"

Godric shook his head. "Probably not till late tonight. He's been searching for something, you know. Always has maps out on his desk."

"Really?" Holly walked over to the desk, just to see. Sure enough, hidden under some papers were maps of different areas around the British Isles. "Interesting," she murmured.

"Yes, quite." Godric agreed. "Now, what was it you wanted to talk to him about?"

Holly smiled up at the painting. "Something about Harry Potter. I'll just leave a note. You'll tell him I was here when he gets back, though?"

Godric bowed. "It would be an honor, my lady."

Holly rolled her eyes as she jotted down a quick note. "None of that. I'm a student at the moment, remember? No 'My lady' or 'Your Highness' or anything like that, got it?"

Godric waved away her argument. "Yes, yes. Whatever you wish."

Holly smiled. "See ya later, Godric."

"Fare thee well!" Godric Gryffindor called out as she left the office. Once the door was closed, he added, "My lady!"

* * *

On her way to lunch, Holly got stopped by Professor Flitwick.

"Holly, will you do a favor for me?" he asked.

"Sure, Professor!" she said brightly. "I mean, you did cover for me that one time…"

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "Holly, do you think you could eat at Ravenclaw's table from time to time? Try and make some friends in your own House?"

Holly nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can do that."

Professor Flitwick smiled. "Thank you."

Holly walked in to the Great Hall and sat down next to a blonde haired girl. "Hi. I'm Holly."

"I'm Luna. You might not want to sit next to me if you want to make more friends in our House."

Holly scoffed. "That's silly. I can be friends with you and anyone else I want. If people don't want to be my friend just because I'm friends with you, then that's too bad for them." She winked conspiratorially. "We'll have more fun than them, anyway."

Just then, Ivy came and sat down across from them. "Holly! What gives? It took me forever to find you!"

Holly shrugged. "Flitwick asked me to sit at the Ravenclaw table some of the time. So, starting today, I'm sitting here for either lunch or dinner."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll sit with these –"

"Intelligent people," Holly supplied cheerfully.

"– _weirdos_ whenever you do." Ivy finished. "What food do you have here, anyways?"

"Well –" Holly started.

"Hold that thought!" Ivy stood. "I'm gonna go get Jack!"

Minutes later, she returned, riding on Jack's back.

"Hey guys! I explained it all to Jack. He's cool with eating over here sometimes if we also eat with the other Puffs. Apparently we don't want them getting jealous." She hopped off of Jack and sat down across from Holly and Luna again. Jack sat down too and they ate for a few minutes in silence.

"So, were you able to speak with Dumbledore?" Ivy finally asked.

Holly shook her head. "Nope. He was out when I got there. So I left a note and a message with one of the portraits. How was Potions?"

Ivy toyed with her food for a few minutes before answering. "It was good…I got detention though."

Holly almost choked on her eggnog. "What'd you do? And how long do you have it?"

"Till the end of the week," Ivy started, looking around.

"What'd you do?" Holly repeated.

"I wasn't making the potion Snape was wanting us to make," Ivy shrugged. "I had already finished it, though."

Holly face palmed. "It's because you're a Gryffindor, isn't it?"

Ivy shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich. "I guess so."

"That's silly," Holly shook her head. "He gave you a whole week for that!"

Ivy coughed. "Well, I did egg him on…but just a little bit! I figured that if I was in detention with Snape the rest of the week, our lovely toad lady can't give me detention for giving her that cough drop."

Jack grinned. "Sounds like a good plan!" He and Ivy high-fived.

"Yeah. Until you get a double detention," Holly pointed out. "Snape and Umbridge. Great plan, Ivy."

Ivy shrugged nonchalantly. "That's where you come in. You tell Dumbledore about the quills, he bans her from using them, and her detention isn't as terrible. If I do get detention from her, I can also talk to McGonagall and see if she can get it so I have a House detention, not detention from the toad."

Holly grinned. "Alright, alright. Your plan sounds good."

Ivy sat back and folded her arms. "Thank you very much, dearest sister! Your acceptance of it makes me feel so good about myself."

Jack sniggered as Holly also folded her arms.

"I'm so glad you feel that way. I'll try to accept your ideas more often."

As Ivy was thinking of another comeback, Ginny walked up.

"Hey, Holly, I got the pictures you wanted." She tossed the ring to Holly. "All I ask is that you give me a copy of them, okay?" She grinned and sat next to Luna. "Hey Luna."

"Deal!" Holly pocketed the ring. "Thanks for doing that for us. Was it cool?"

Ginny laughed. "She looked like an overgrown toad! She was greenish-brown, had a few warts, and her tongue! It was awesome!"

Ivy, Holly, and Jack laughed. "That's great! I'll be sure to develop these as soon as possible." Holly got out.

Ginny nodded and reached for a sandwich. "Mind if I sit with you guys?"

Jack and Ivy shrugged, but Holly and Luna both nodded. "Of course you can!" Holly said cheerfully.

They ate in silence for a while, then Ivy "accidentally" dropped some of her carrots into Jack's goblet. Then Jack, to retaliate, froze her pumpkin juice as she was getting a drink. Soon, Holly had mustard all over her face (from Ivy's sandwich) and Ginny's robes were splattered with eggnog and pumpkin juice. Luna was untouched, although her copy of the _Quibbler_ wasn't as lucky. Holly was getting ready to pour some water on her head when she noticed her diminutive Head of House hurrying toward them.

"Teacher's coming!" she hissed to the others. "_Scourgify_! _Tergeo_!"

By the time Flitwick had reached them, everything was spotless.

"Hallo, Professor!" Ivy said with a grin. "What's up?"

The Charms professor looked around at the five of them. "Five points from each of your Houses for that abominable display of self-control." Then as the five students looked at each other solemnly, he added with a grin, "And ten points to you all for your quick use of those cleaning charms!" As he walked away, Ivy grinned and high-fived Ginny

"Yes! We gained ten points! That's got to count for something!"

Holly rolled her eyes. "You know, Ravenclaw did, too. We're still ahead of you guys."

Jack frowned. "We need another Hufflepuff in our group!"

"I don't think we could handle another Puff, Jack!" Ivy exclaimed.

As Ivy and Jack debated about the virtues of Hufflepuffs, Luna turned to Holly.

"So, are we a group, then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Holly shrugged. "If you want to be." She stood and started walking away. "We'll be eating with the Hufflepuffs for dinner if you want to join us!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

That night, Holly snuck out of her dorm and walked to a certain corridor on the seventh floor. Once she got to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, she paced back and forth three times. When a door appeared, she ducked inside. She set the black quill on a stand and started running tests.

With a complicated series of swishes from her wand, Holly created an exact copy of the quill. She took the original and locked it in a lead case near the door. Then she turned to the copy. Gingerly picking it up, she wrote "This is a test of copy forty-seven. I am the Holly. This is a test. This is a test of copy forty-seven. I am the Holly. This is a test." The sentences appeared in dark red blood. Holly sat back, massaging her hand. So far, the copy worked just as well as the original. She tore the sheet in half and lit the first half on fire. The blood turned green and smoked profusely. Holly frowned.

"That's not good," She muttered. Turning to a blackboard behind her, she put a tally under the "Blood Magic" side. "Forty-six out of forty-seven times. Definitely not good."

She walked over to one of the walls and tapped on it. "I need a passageway from here to Ivy's dorm and back to here. And I'd like here to stay the same until I say so."

A tunnel opened in front of her. Holly climbed in and started walking. A few minutes later, she was bending over her twin's sleeping form.

"Ivy. Ivy!" Holly shook her sister. "Ivy, I need you!"

"Holly, whatsa matter?" Ivy groaned. "I thought you were working on that quill."

"I am. I just need a test subject. Come on!"

Ivy sat up slowly. "Test subject for what?"

"To see if it's actually _draíochta fola_ or not."

Ivy fell back to her bed. "You know it doesn't work on me. Go away."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Fine I'm going to go get Harry, then. I'm sure North and Dumbledore would absolutely love that."

Ivy groaned and rolled onto her stomach. "Just make sure I don't hear about it!" She stuffed her face into her pillow.

Holly walked down the staircase and turned to go up to the boys' dormitory. She walked in and searched the doors for the one that said H. Potter. She opened the door and snuck over to Harry's bed.

"Harry." She shook him. "Harry! I need your help. This is important!"

Harry opened his eyes and stared up at her groggily. "Holly? What're you doin' here? Aren't you in Ravenclaw?"

Holly brushed that aside. "That's not important. Now, will you help me or not?"

Harry sat up, fumbling for his glasses. "What do you need me to do?"

Holly handed him his glasses. "You know that quill Ivy got for me? I'm running a few tests and I need some help. I'll explain more when we get there, alright?"

Harry nodded, slipping into his robe. "Let's go, then."

Holly led him out to the stairway, then stopped.

"I need you to let Master Harry Potter pass," she addressed the stairs. "I can personally vouch for his virtue and intentions."

The stairs shuddered, but stayed still. Holly took Harry's hand and pulled him up the stairs. "Come on!"

They made it to Ivy's room and through the tunnel without any problems. When Holly jumped out of the tunnel, she was surprised to see Ivy sitting there, waiting for them.

"What?" Ivy said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm here to make sure you don't go above and beyond what you need to do. You're just testing to see if the blood on the parchment can be used in _draíochta fola_ and then breaking it off, got it?"

"_Draíochta fola_?" Harry asked, coming up behind Holly.

Holly turned. "Yeah. Blood magic. It's outlawed nowadays, but a long time ago, witches and wizards could get a bit of blood from a person, usually one that they hated, do a special ritual, and they'd have a ton of power over them. They could make them sick, super strong, brilliant, you know. If the two were to duel, the victim would be almost powerless while they would be supernaturally powerful. Those with a strong will could even make their victims their slaves."

"It's a much more powerful form of voodoo, or the Imperious Curse," Ivy supplied.

Holly nodded. "Except limitless. Unless they released you or someone was to destroy whatever they put the blood on, or kill the master, there was no getting out of it."

"So, what does that have to do with us?" Harry asked.

"Well, you see, I'm worried that Umbridge's quills can be used to get blood for blood magic," Holly explained. "If so, you, Ivy, and Jack and anyone else who has had detention with her will be in serious trouble."

"Let's do this then!" Harry exclaimed. "What can I do?"

Holly walked over to the door and opened the lead box. "I need you to write something with this."

Harry gulped. "Okay. Anything?"

Holly nodded. "Anything you want. And could you write it a few times?"

Harry sat down and reached for the quill. "Let's get it done."

Holly passed the quill to him and sat in another chair.

After a few minutes, Harry looked up. "Okay, I'm done. Now what?"

Holly picked up the parchment and blew on it. "Now, if you could go sit by Ivy, I'll do the rest."

She walked to the center of the room, where a chalk pentagram was drawn. "Now, the moon isn't completely full tonight, but it's full enough to work." She pulled a cord and a hidden window opened. "You guys get some sleep. The next part takes a very, very long time."

"Just like Old Entish," Ivy muttered, snuggled deeper into her armchair.

Harry looked from Holly to Ivy, then copied Ivy and fell back to sleep.

Once Ivy was sure Harry was asleep, she nodded to Holly, who then turned to the walls.

"Alright, you lot. I need one of my old dresses, a basin of spring water, and some fairy dust."

The walls groaned and creaked.

"There's a spring right under the kitchens. Get it from there." Holly said, exasperated. "Besides, it doesn't count as a food. In this instance, it counts as an ingredient for a spell."

A few minutes later, an emerald green dress, a stone basin filled with clear water, and a leather pouch materialized in front of her.

"Thanks very much. Now, separate yourself into two rooms so I can go change."

A fifth wall grew from the floor obligingly, splitting the room in half. Once it reached the ceiling, a door materialized in the middle.

"Perfect." Holly picked up the dress and walked into the other room.

A few minutes later, she returned, pajamas folded neatly and tucked under her arm, her slippers in her hands.

"Alright. You can go back to one room now." As the wall in the middle of the room vanished, she tossed her pajamas and slippers to Ivy. "Here. Hold these for me, okay?" Ivy stuck out her tongue and proceeded to tie the pajamas in knots.

As Holly set a brazier in the middle of the pentagram, the walls again groaned and creaked.

"I'm not working you too hard! All you've done for the past few centuries is sit vacant, waiting for students to need somewhere to hide something. Stop complaining!" Holly rolled her eyes, positioning the flame so it was in the exact center. "You're such a baby!"

Ignoring the responding noises from the walls, she proceeded to fill a pitcher with some of the spring water, then she washed her arms, face, and neck with the rest. "Ivy, is he still asleep?"

Ivy leaned over and stared at Harry. "Yep. But why did you tell him to go to sleep? Preparations only take five minutes."

Holly nodded. "I know. But didn't you see how tired he was? I thought that if we gave him twenty minutes to sleep, he would appreciate it."

"That's nice of you." Ivy grinned. "You know, the first time we did this, you kept Sal up all that night and the night before, too."

Holly shrugged. "I thought it would help."

Ivy laughed. "Well, I'd have to disagree. I'd say that it just made it harder for him to follow our commands."

"Well, that isn't our purpose this time." Holly grinned as she remembered that fiasco. "This is for Harry."

Ivy stood and stretched. "You need help?"

Holly shook her head. "Once I've started the chant, will you wake him? He'll probably want to see this."

Ivy nodded. "Got it."

Holly picked up the parchment and walked to the brazier. She nodded to Ivy and began.

"_De réir fuil ordú mé dhuit…_"

"Harry!" Ivy hissed. "Wake up! She's started!"

"_…De réir fola a rialú mé dhuit,_

_Trí fola Labhraím leat._

_Thou Art cheangal dom…_"

"What's she saying?" Harry whispered, not taking his eyes off Holly.

"_…Faoin banna, a sheirbheáil dom,_

_Mar gheall ar seo banna, a leanúint dom..._"

"Ummm…" Ivy tried to remember. "Something about how you're bound to her through your blood and you now have to serve and follow her. Very straightforward in a prophecy sort of way. You know."

"_Trí thy fola, a thuiscint dom._

_Comhlacht, aigne, croí, anam!_

_Harry James Potter!_"

Holly lit the parchment and held it as it burned. The blood flashed gold, and Harry felt a shiver run through him, his mind and body going numb.

Once the parchment was burned, Holly scuffed out the pentagram.

"Let's see how it worked!" She clapped her hands. "_Harry Potter! Ordú mé dod chorp a sneeze!_"

Harry felt an enormous sneeze building up. He tried to hold it in, but Holly cocked an eyebrow and it came flying out.

"AAACCCHHHOOOOO!"

Ivy clapped. "It worked! Awesome."

Harry rubbed his nose. "So, now what?"

Holly frowned. "Now we work out a way to keep blood magic from working on you again. _Seas ar láimh ag an tábla_."

Harry walked over to the table.

"Now, there are two ways to go about this. If I keep you under this blood control for a little longer, at least till the full moon is over, Umbridge won't be able to control you. The other way is to lift this and make you immune to blood control."

"The second one would be our best option," Ivy added. "The only problem is that for the spell to work properly, you have to do it at the new moon."

"If we do it now, it will hold against one blood enchantment," Holly explained when she saw Harry was about to speak. "But if Umbridge uses all the parchments she's collected, then you'll be as defenseless as if tonight never happened."

"So, you're saying that you're going to keep me under your control till the next new moon?" Harry asked, getting angry.

Holly raised her eyebrows. "No. You can choose what you want to do. There's no reason to get mad."

"Well, I don't like the idea of being under anyone's control." Harry stated.

"We know!" Ivy cut in. "We feel the same way! But think! Would you rather be under Holly's control, or Umbridge's?"

Harry thought about it, then nodded. "Fine. Let's keep this…enchantment on me till the next full moon."

"Alright then! Just two more things, Harry." Holly started cleaning up. "One: you can't tell anyone about this. Not yet, anyway. And two: go to bed."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ivy draped her arm across his shoulders and led him out the door. "C'mon. You've just been dismissed by the queen."

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, an owl dropped a note at Holly's plate.

"Oooh! What's it say?" Ivy tried to grab it from her sister. "Who's it from?"

Holly smiled. "Dumbledore. He wants to speak with me as soon as I'm done with breakfast."

"I'm not invited?" Ivy pouted. "How rude!"

"Well, you weren't exactly there with her when she left the message," Jack pointed out.

Ivy stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up!"

Holly grinned even wider and stood. "I might as well go now. See you later, you guys."

She walked out of the Great Hall and up to the third floor and stopped in front of the gargoyle.

"Hello, Dom! I've got the password, today!" She said cheerfully. "Acid pops!"

Dom moved aside and Holly walked up the stairs. Once she reached the office door, she knocked and waited.

Dumbledore opened the door and smiled. "Come in, Holly."

Holly stepped in and followed the Headmaster as he made his way over to his desk. "Now, how can I help you? Your note said you had to speak to me about something important. Godric said it was something about Harry?"

Holly nodded. "Yeah. You see, the toa – Professor Umbridge has been using a cruel and unusual punishment as a form of detention on three of the students here, namely Ivy, Jack Frost, and Harry Potter. Ivy and Jack have filled their detentions, but Harry has to go tonight. I was wondering if Ivy or I could take his place."

Dumbledore laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "What is Professor Umbridge having them do for detention?"

"They are writing lines using quills that draw on their blood for ink." Holly pulled the offending object from her bag and set it on the desk. "I had Ivy get one for me Wednesday night. I've been running tests on it and I have bad news. Not only have they been made to cause the user as much pain as possible, and to leave scars as quickly as possible, the blood can also be used in draíochta fola." She placed one of her test parchments on the table beside the quill.

Dumbledore picked up the quill and parchment and studied them both for a moment. Then he sighed. "Blood magic has been banned for centuries. If Dolores Umbridge is using these quills for that purpose, then she will be doing so with as much secrecy as possible." He stared down at the quill and parchment and shook his head.

Holly nodded, sitting down in the chair on her side of the desk. "I know. That's one of the reasons why I want to take Harry's place."

Dumbledore looked up at Holly. "What do you propose to do?"

Holly stood up and started pacing. "I assume you know that in earlier centuries, punishments were quite…harsh." When Dumbledore nodded, she continued. "You also know that when someone wasn't able to bear the punishment, if they would die because of it, someone close to them could step in and take the punishment for them? That is what I am proposing. Let me take Harry's place and complete his punishment for him."

Dumbledore stared up at the portraits on the wall thoughtfully. "I understand. But won't we need the punisher to agree? I don't see Dolores Umbridge acquiescing."

Holly frowned. "As Headmaster of this institution, you can agree to it and she would have no say." Her lips quirked into a smile for a brief second. "That's what my father would have done." She stood. "I tested my theory on Harry last night. Don't worry, I won't make him do anything that would put him in danger. In fact, I probably won't use my control over him at all. He'll be safe. At the next new moon, I'll lift my control and make it so draíochta fola will never work on him again."

"You shouldn't test your theories on other students." Dumbledore frowned. "You should have asked me for help."

Holly shrugged. "You weren't here. Besides, if I told him to do anything in the next two weeks, it would probably be to pick his nose or stand up in History of Magic and ask that horrid ghost you have as a teacher if he can't make that class more interesting."

"Then if you wouldn't mind fetching Harry and Ivy, we'll ask them what he thinks about your plan." Dumbledore sighed.

Holly saluted smartly and marched out of the room.

Dumbledore groaned. "Why did I ever ask North to send those three to help?"

* * *

Holly ran through the school, looking for Ivy and Harry. She stopped at the greenhouses and smiled when she saw it was filled with students with red and gold ties and Gryffindor badges on their robes.

"'Scuze me." She tapped one of the closer students on the shoulder. "Are Ivy and Harry in this class?"

The girl smiled. "Yeah. They're over there, with Hermione, Ron, Neville and that Hufflepuff, Jack Frost."

"Thanks a bunch!" Holly grinned. Instead of walking over to Ivy and the rest of her friends, she went to talk to Professor Sprout.

"Miss Faolán, Mister Potter!" Professor Sprout called out. "You are to go to the Headmaster's office immediately!" The two Gryffindors looked up, a bit confused. Once Ivy saw Holly, though, she grinned and cleaned up all her stuff. Then, when Harry was taking too long to clean his area up, she started helping him. Finally, they made it out of the greenhouse, where Holly was waiting.

"So, why does Dumbledore want to see us?" Ivy poked her sister.

Holly swatted at Ivy. "It's about Harry's detention with Umbridge tonight."

Harry frowned. "You told him what's been happening?"

"What's wrong with that?" Ivy asked. "If a teacher is doing something illegal, then shouldn't a higher power be told?"

Before Harry could answer, Holly continued. "Anyway, Dumbledore wants to ask you, Harry, if it'd be alright if Ivy or I take your place for tonight's detention."

Harry stared at the redhead. "Wait, what?"

"If you want, you don't have to go to detention," Holly said slowly. "Ivy or I would take your place."

"You'd take his place." Ivy corrected. "I've got detention with Snape tonight."

"I forgot about that," Holly scrunched up her nose. "Alright, if you decide to let me, I'd take your place."

"Why?" Harry asked.

Holly shrugged. "Besides the fact that I'm your friend, I want to steal those parchments from the toad so she won't be able to use them against anyone."

Ivy nodded helpfully. "It's a good idea, Harry!"

"Acid Pops," Holly said to Dom, then she turned back to the others. "Of course it is. But, Harry, the choice is ultimately yours."

The twins let Harry think about it as they walked up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. When they got to the door, Holly knocked once, then opened it and stepped inside.

"I've got Ivy and Harry," she said to Dumbledore, who was staring out the window behind his desk.

Dumbledore turned to face the trio. "Hello, Harry, Ivy. I assume Holly has told you why you are here?"

The two teens nodded.

"Good." Dumbledore smiled. "Well, Harry, would you like to skip detention tonight or not?"

Harry looked over at Holly. "I think I would rather go through with it than have Holly take my place."

Ivy started to speak, but Holly caught her arm and shook her head.

"That's fine, Harry," Holly said quietly. "If you need help, just ask."

With that, she nodded to Dumbledore and a few of the paintings on the wall and dragged her sister out of the room.

Once they were out of the door, Ivy gave a sigh of frustration. "Why, Holly?"

Her sister shrugged and started walking down the stairs. "Because if Harry thinks he needs to go to this last detention, then he should go to this last detention. The outcome will be the same either way. But I don't think we should use our firework setup quite yet. We need to come up with something else."

Ivy grinned evilly. "Do you think we should go see what Sal stashed in his secret room?"

Holly laughed. "Sure, why not? And let's get Jack, too. He'd probably be bored out of his mind otherwise."

After pulling Jack into the abandoned girl's bathroom ("Do we have to go in_ there_?"), opening the secret entrance, and walking past the giant snake skin (Holly and Ivy shared a surprised look at that), the finally entered their brother's secret room.

"Wow! So, this was your brother's room?" Jack said, looking around the Great Hall sized room.

"Well, it wasn't quite as big when we were kids." Holly said, stepping over some rubble. "And it wasn't underground."

"Mom and Dad wouldn't have allowed it," Ivy agreed. "That enormous statue wasn't here, either."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Holly asked, kicking at the base of it. "If he wanted others to see how great he was, why put the statue down here?"

"And the giant snake skeleton?" Jack poked at it with his staff.

Holly and Ivy walked over. "Well, he did have an affinity for snakes." Holly said.

"Yeah, but Holly, that's a basilisk. He wouldn't have been that crazy, would he?" Ivy started walking around the bones. "This is huge!"

Holly frowned. "I think we should remember that Sal wasn't always the little boy we remember him as. He kind of took that whole pureblood thing a bit too far, don't you think? But at least he didn't try to become immortal, like one certain descendant of his."

"Okay, so who exactly is your brother?" Jack asked.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Honestly Jack. Our brother is Salazar Slytherin. Didn't you realize that?"

Jack frowned. "The evil Founder? He's your brother?"

"It's a long story." Ivy sighed. "But he wasn't evil, exactly. He just kind of misunderstood how getting magic works."

"How does getting magic work?" Jack turned to Holly, who was examining the skeleton.

Holly turned and leaned against one of the rib bones. "Well, a long time ago, there was a race of people called the Tuatha de Danann. They ruled over Ireland for quite some time, but eventually were conquered and driven underground. Some of them stayed and became the Sidhe, but some left and intermarried with peoples around the world. All witches and wizards, muggleborn, halfblood, or pureblood, have a bit of Tuatha de Danann blood in them. So do people with red hair." She stopped and Ivy motioned for her to continue. "Anyway, these descendants all have magic sleeping in their blood and bones and hair and stuff. Witches and wizards are those who, as kids or babies, had their magic awakened by a magic user. Make sense?"

"Sure," Jack frosted the skeleton lightly. "But what about people like Filch? Squids?"

"Squibs," Holly corrected. "We aren't exactly sure what happened with them. It might have been the fear of their parents or some huge cataclysmic event or something else that kept their magic turned off. Or maybe they just weren't born with magic."

"And what about me? I didn't have any magical powers when I was alive. How am I able to do it now?"

"Well, you're now a winter spirit. You're basically a being of magic. Hanging out with us these past few months has definitely helped, though." Ivy laughed.

Holly nodded. "Guardians and other immortal beings, like the Groundhog and Ivy and me, have much more magic in them and surrounding them than most witches and wizards do. That's partly why people can't see us unless they believe."

Ivy started walking toward the left side of the room. "Let's get going! Weren't there a bunch of little rooms off of this one?"

Holly pushed herself off the skeleton and followed Ivy. "Yeah. Most of them were storage closet sized, right? C'mon, Jack."

* * *

**So, I had an intense bout of writer's block for a while, then when I started studying for finals, it all went away and I was able to finish this. Good luck to all test takers out there!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"So, how are we getting everything out of here?" Jack asked as he pulled a large sack of magical implements along the floor.

"We're going to use mirrors." Holly answered. "Ivy found a very large one in one of the rooms. It should be large enough to carry all this stuff through."

Ivy nodded. "Hey, Holly, do you think this jam is still good?"

The red head shrugged, and looked into another of the rooms. "Maybe. Is there still a seal on it?"

Ivy shook her head. Then she opened it and smelled it. "I'm bringing this along. It might be useful."

As the smell wafted over to her nose, Holly gagged. "Just keep it away from me!"

Ivy giggled and stuffed the jar into her bag. "I wonder if it will explode."

Jack groaned while Holly looked at the bag thoughtfully. "That might be useful. Or we could give it to her as an apology gift…you know, for giving her a hard time in class..."

Ivy snorted. "Right. _I'm so sorry Professor Umbridge. Here's some jam to make it up._" She pretended to offer the jam to Jack.

Jack pretended to accept the jam. Then, getting into character, he snootily said. "I'm glad your punishment has given you a change of heart." He then pretended to taste the jam, and proceeded to dramatically choke and die on the floor.

Holly and Ivy laughed. "We'll figure something out." Holly finally got out. "Anything else we could use?"

Jack held up a thick, old book covered in red leather. "How about this?"

Ivy started jumping up and down. "Holly! Holly! Holly! That's our book!"

"So he kept it down here to keep it safe?" Holly asked excitedly.

"And he probably added to it, too!" Ivy agreed.

Holly took the book from Jack and flipped through its pages. "Oooh! We could use this one! Or this one!"

Jack laughed and grabbed the book. "Okay. I think we have enough. Let's go back upstairs."

_Gfraldr oinma crou shtick _

_Manma veldmar halrin quell_

_Grol smeck yuin dafaish_

_Oinma Gfraldr crou shtick_

_Veldmar quell manma halrin_

_Grol smeck yuin dafaish_

_Una reez malfac totum._

Holly recited the spell carefully, periodically pointing at a picture of Umbridge. After a while, she nodded to Ivy and had her take over.

_Seal i cúig bliain d'aois_

_Biegen Sie in eine fünf-jährige_

_Blive til en fem-årig_

_Trowch i mewn i bum mlwydd oed NAWR!_

The two sisters slumped in exhaustion while a piercing scream emanated from somewhere in the castle.

When Jack had finally helped the sisters limp to the Toad's office, a crowd had already gathered. Students and teachers alike were elbowing each other for a view of through the doorway.

"What's going on?" Jack asked a Ravenclaw girl.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Apparently Professor Umbridge was teaching a class when she just started…shrinking. She ran out of her classroom and in here…where she looked in the mirror and screamed? That's what I heard from two Hufflepuff students."

Jack looked at Holly and Ivy. "Is that what's supposed to happen?"

Holly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Probably…it was…supposed to …turn her…into…a…five…year…old."

Ivy nodded. "She must have had wards placed around her. I don't think it was supposed to be that hard to place the spell."

The Ravenclaw girl's eyes widened. "You two turned her into a five-year-old? Why? How?"

Jack shrugged. "They found a book."

Holly straightened and pushed off of Jack. "Alright. I've got to see if it worked." She started pushing through the mob with a passion.

"Come on, I don't want to miss this!" Ivy started pulling Jack and the girl along. "Oh, by the way, I'm Ivy, this is Jack, and Holly is the redhead."

"I know." The girl said. "Holly's my roommate. And besides, everyone in the castle has heard about you three."

Ivy brightened at this. "Really? What have they been saying? Good things? Bad things? Ugly things?"

"All of the above?" The girl laughed. "I'm Iris, by the way."

Finally, they reached the doorway, where Holly was arguing with Filch.

"…and it's quite obvious that she has little to no control over her magic, seeing as when she screamed, she blew this door right off its hinges! Honestly, I am a bit of an expert on these things. Just ask Dumbledore! He'll let me in even if she and Fudge won't!"

"I bet if you shouted a little louder, Dumbledore would hear you himself." Jack poked her.

Ivy grinned. "Good idea! HEY! DUMBLEDORE! LET US IN!"

"You can let them come in, Argus." Dumbledore called out in a half sigh. "They may be able to fix this."

Ivy snorted but didn't say anything to the contrary as she, Holly, Jack, and Iris filed past the crotchety caretaker.

Chaos ruled inside the office. Kittens were mewing, yowling, and hissing their distaste for the sobbing and moans that were coming from a huddled mass in the corner of the room.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Ivy asked cheerfully. Has anyone been messing with the dear professor again?"

Fudge looked up from where he was trying to comfort the huddled mass. "This is not a laughing matter, miss! Someone has cursed Dolores!"

Holly stepped forward. "May I see? I may be able to help."

Fudge stepped away from Professor Umbridge, who stood and turned to face them.

Jack stepped back a bit, reaching into his pocket for his staff. Iris yelped and grabbed at Ivy's arm. Holly and Ivy looked at each other and nodded.

Professor Umbridge's body was an amalgamation of her adult self and what she must have looked like when she was a five-year-old. Her left arm and right leg were their fully grown size, but her right arm and left leg looked like they had been hit by a shrink ray. On top of that, her torso was normal, but her stomach was that of a five-year-old. The only good thing that Holly could see was that her mouth finally fit her face and she no longer looked like a toad.

"Alright, first things first: do you have any protective spells or wards placed on you?" Holly asked, getting right to business.

Umbridge nodded.

"Can we take them off?"

Umbridge shook her head violently.

Holly and Ivy shared a look, then turned to Dumbledore.

"I think the wards and protective spells are what caused this…catastrophe. I'm sure the spell is harmless. If we could take off the protection and let the spell finish, I'm sure we could undo the spell."

"And how do we convince Dolores?" Dumbledore asked.

Ivy muttered something that sounded a lot like "You're the Headmaster. Can't you just force her or something?"

Holly shrugged. "I don't know. But, that's all I can think of at the moment that wouldn't use much more magic than I'm willing to expend right at the moment."

"If she does decide to stay like this, can I get a picture?" Iris blurted out. "It would be for the school newspaper a few of us are starting. We'd put it in with a caption like: "Shortest term as teacher ever!" it would be fantastic!"

Ivy grinned, while Umbridge wailed. Fudge scowled. "Dolores, we need to take this curse off you. Take down your wards."

Umbridge mutter something under her breath, then took off her bow. There was a rush of green light as the spell finished itself. Umbridge was now five…and her mouth was too big again.

"Change me back!" she stomped her foot. "I demand it!"

Holly took out her wand and waved it up and down the five-year-old. "Mmmm, sorry. The spell's got a timer on it. As long as we don't do anything about it, it will only last a couple of weeks."

"Guess we better start calling her Dory, then." Jack whispered to Ivy.

Professor Umbridge shrieked. "Twenty points from Hufflepuff!" She stormed out of the office and into the hall. A few seconds later, she rushed back in and hid behind her desk. "Get those people away from me!"

Hogwarts became even more interesting than usual for those few weeks. After a particularly brutal Defense Against the Dark Arts lecture, in which Umbridge, or Dory as everyone but the Slytherins and Hermione had taken to calling her, took away at least fifty house points from Gryffindor, Ivy realized that her point deductions and additions had no effect on the house standings. Fred and George noticed that when they got her really angry, doors would blow open and tables would flip. Holly explained that her control over magic had reduced with her body's age, as had parts of her personality, which is why she had more temper tantrums than before.

"So, she could do any spell she knew before, but there might be a magical backlash or a magical leakage." Holly said, reaching for the eggnog.

"What about the house points?" Iris asked.

"Maybe because she's now a five-year-old, the magic thinks of her as a student?" Hermione speculated.

Holly shrugged. "Maybe."

"She's going to be really mad when she gets back to being an adult again, though." Ivy pointed her fork at Jack.

Jack pushed a strawberry onto the tines. "So? She can't trace it to us."

"We should all be careful, though," Hermione watched disapprovingly as Ivy catapulted the strawberry into Harry's oatmeal. "She'll snap at any little thing we do."

Fred patted Hermione on the head. "Don't worry. Georgie and I can handle her wrath."


End file.
